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(I}.     Mo  dsia  appear  to  exist  for  the  accurate  delimitation  of  tribal  boundaries,  and  thii  Hap  is  only  approximate. 
(2J.     The  boundaries  of  Vai.   Goto.   Kiai,  are  unknown ;    the  trim,  and  Bulsm  (Sherbro),  are  virtually  swallcu/td  up  tj  Vie  Uendi. 
North  of  Frietou/n   there  are  only  scattered  communities  of  Butsm 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL   REPORT 


ON     . 

SIERRA   LEONE. 

BY 

NORTHCOTE  W.  THOMAS,  M.A.,  F.RA.I. 

Government  Anthropologist. 

PART    I. 


LAW  AND  C 


OF    THE 


TIMNE   AND   OTHER  TRIBES. 


LONDON : 

HARRISON  AND  SONS. 


„\6 


1916 
(Copyright.) 


LONDON : 

HARBISON    AND    SONS,   PEINTEES    IN    OEDINAEY    TOj-HIS    MAJESTY, 

ST.    MARTIN'S    LANE. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


IV. — Religion 

V. — Cult  of  the  Dead 

VI. — Witchcraft  

VII.— Satka,  Wanka,  etc. 
VIII.— Ritual  Prohibitions     ... 
IX.— Divination,  Ordeals,  Omens 


page 


14 


I. — Introductory 

II. — Demography        

III. — Paramount  Chief  -° 

29 

41 

46 

52 

69 

80 


X. — Marriage 91 


103 
108 
118 


XL — Kinship 

XII. — Birth,  Twins,  Circumcision 

XIII.— Burial        

XIV.— Totemism 13- 

XV. — Secret  Societies 143 

XVI. — Law,  Criminal 1)3 

XVIL— Slavery 

XVIIL— Inheritance,  Land,  Debt         

XIX.— Farming  and  Crops       !"- 

XX. — Technology  and  Science  1<< 

Note  on  Botanical  Features,  by  Dr.  O.  Staff...       181 

Glossary •■•       1°" 

Index         189 


138 
162 


LIST    OF    PLATES. 


Map — Showing   Distribution    of    Tribes,    by 
Major  (now  Lieutenant-Colonel)  C.  E. 
Palmer,  D.S.O.,  R.A.,  formerly  attached 
to  the  Sierra  Leone  Battalion,  West 
African  Frontier  Force...         ...         ...      Frontispiece 

Facing  page 

I. — (a)  Susu  "Weaving;  (b)  Suspension  Bridge        ...  11 

II. — (a)  Timne  House;  (b)  Limba  Stone  House       ...  12 

III.— (a)  Konten  ;  (b)  Timne  Girl           20 

IV. — (a)  Sanko  ;  (b)  Satimaka     28 

V. — (a)  Koranko  Image;  (b)  Maskers  (Timne)         ...  39 

VI. — Sacrifice  :  (a)  For  Health  ;  (b)  For  Good  Sleep  41 

VII. — Sacrifice  :  (a)  For  Bad  Dead  ;  (b)  For  Farm  ...  43 

VIII.— Susu  Boy           60 

IX. — (a)  Atettot  ;  (b)  Sena          84 

X. — Timne  Man  (Sanda) 90 

XL— Timne  Man  (Yoni)     96 

XII.— Timne  Woman  (Sanda)         110 

XIIL— (a)  Bundcj  "Devil";  (b)  Circumcision  Mask    ...  117 

XIV.— Graves  :  (a)  Timne  ;  (b)  Susu         129 

XV. — Timne  Woman  (South)          140 

XVI. — Yalunka  Man  and  Woman            146 

XVII.— Limba  Girl       152 

XVIII.— Koranko  Man             160 

XIX,  XX.— Pot  Making  (Sanda) 177 


L— INTRODUCTORY. 

The  colony  and  protectorate  of  Sierra  Leone  lie  between 
7°  N.  and  10°  N.  in  latitude,  and  10°  50'  W.  and  13°  50'  W. 
in  longitude,  with  a  total  area  of  about  31,000  square  miles, 
and  a  native  population  of  more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter. 

The  area  near  the  coast  is,  with  the  exception  of  the 
mountainous  region  near  Freetown,  uniformly  flat  and,  in 
the  rainy  season,  in  many  parts  swampy.  Higher  ground  is 
found  eastwards  towards  the  Liberia n  border,  and  hill 
country  is  entered  soon  after  crossing  the  Seli  on  the  road  to 
Kaballa,  which  lies  fully  1,200  feet  above  the  sea,  with 
surrounding  hills  perhaps  800  feet  higher  still,  some  of  them 
occupied  by  Limba  villages  built  in  part  of  stone. 

The  rivers  run  in  the  main  from  north-east  to  south-west, 
the  Moa,  Sewa,  Taia,  Seli  (Eokelle),  Kabba  (Little  Scarries), 
and  Kolente  (Great  Scarries)  being  the  most  important, 
though  rapids  often  make  navigation  impossible  not  far 
from  the  mouth.  The  Seli  takes  its  rise  not  far  from  the 
head- waters  of  the  Niger,  here  known  as  the . Joliba. 

Except  in  the  hill  country  in  the  north-central  area 
vegetation  is  exceedingly  rich,  and  there  are  more  than  1,500 
species  of  trees  and  plants,  exclusive  of  rice  and  cultivated 
vegetables. 

Among  the  animals  may  be  mentioned  the  chimpanzee, 
on  the  Scarries  and  in  the  area  between  Freetown  and 
the  Liberian  borders,  the  hippopotamus  and  pigmy  hippo- 
potamus, elephant,  bongo,  cob,  bush  buck,  and  a  number  of 
duiker  ;  leopard  and  many  kinds  of  cat,  dwarf  buffalo,  and 
wild  pig. 

Among  the  birds,  guinea  fowl,  francolin,  greater  and  lesser 
plantain  eaters,  bustard,  and  many  kinds  of  duck  are  found  ; 


snares  are  set  for  birds,  especially  near  the  marshy  areas  in 
the  south,  where  spur-winged  geese  are  plentiful. 

Snakes  are  abundant,  but  apparently  not  dangerous  as  a 
rule,  though  the  spitting  cobra  is  not  uncommon. 

Scorpions  and  land  crabs  are  found,  and  fish  are  plentiful 
in  the  rivers,  though  until  recently  only  eleven  species  were 
known  from  the  whole  area. 

There  were  comparatively  few  opportunities  of  ascertaining 
facts  as  to  the  prevalence  of  disease,  but  the  natives  do  not 
suffer  to  the  same  extent  as  the  Nigerian  peoples  from 
indolent  ulcers.  The  various  tribes  showed  a  marked 
difference  of  character  in  respect  of  the  readiness  with  which 
they  submitted  to  treatment.  Except  in  Susu  villages  it 
was  very  rare  for  patients  to  accept  an  invitation  to  come 
for  medicine ;  but  Susus  were  everywhere  ready  to  come 
forward,  even  when  the  tribe  among  whom  they  resided 
showed  no  inclination  to  do  so. 

Old  men  seemed  far  less  frequent  than  in  Nigeria,  but  no 
exact  estimate  of  age  was  possible  in  the  absence  of  historical 
events  of  known  date  as  a  starting-point.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  wars,  which  went  on  till  some  twenty  years 
ago,  swept  off  masses  of  the  population ;  in  one  town  I  was 
told  by  an  old  man  that  seven  of  his  nine  wives  had  dis- 
appeared in  this  way. 

In  physical  appearance  there  appears  to  be  a  well-marked 
difference  between  the  Mandingo  peoples  and  the  other 
tribes.  The  Susus  and  the  Mencli  are  more  lightly  built  than 
the  Timne  ;  the  Limba  type  is  different  from  either,  and  they 
are  perhaps  somewhat  darker. 

Many  of  the  natives  in  the  south  appear  to  be  very 
capable  traders ;  in  one  family,  four  of  whose  members 
received  part  of  the  farming  capital  for  trading  purposes, 
more  than  £2,500  wTas  banked  in  seven  years  from  the 
surplus  profits.  In  general,  however,  the  native  appears  to 
be  unintelligent  and  singularly  lacking  in  initiative ;  it  is  a 
rare  occurrence  to  give  an  order  to  a  man  and  find  it  carried 
out  promptly  and  intelligently,  or  even  carried  out  at  all. 


The  Limba  is  perhaps  rather  superior  to  the  other  tribes  in 
this  respect. 

The  Mendi  is  a  better  carrier  than  the  Timne ,  and  he 
seems  to  be  generally  more  resolute,  though  he  is  at  the 
same  time  more  light-hearted.  On  one  occasion  Timne 
carriers,  who  were  called  upon  to  wade  a  river  in  Hood,  which 
was  no  more  than  chest  deep,  gave  themselves  up  for  lost, 
when    the   Mendi  hammock   boys  were  quite  unperturbed. 

The  cheerfulness  of  the  Mendi,  on  the  other  hand,  makes 
him  less  prudent. 

Freetown  itself  is  inhabited  by  the  descendants  of  liberated 
Africans,  who,  fifty  years  ago,  spoke  hundreds  of  different 
languages,  as  Koelle  has  left  on  record  in  his  Polyglotta 
Africana ;  to-day  Yoruba  (Aku)  and  possibly  Ibo 
survive. 

Of  the  languages  of  the  Protectorate,  Fulfulde  (Fula)  is 
spoken  by  scattered  sections  of  the  tribe,  covering  over  a 
large  part  of  the  area,  who  are  in  most  cases  sedentary, 
sometimes  in  their  own  villages,  and  mainly  occupied  with 
cattle-keeping. 

The  remaining  languages  are  Soudanese,  and  fall  into  two 
main  groups,  prefix  and  non-prefix  tongues.  To  the  former, 
which  may  be  called  the  old  group,  belong  (a)  Timne,  (b) 
Limba  (with  several  dialects),  and  (c)  Bulam  (Mampa 
Sherbro),  Krim,  and  Kisi,  which  are  closely  related. 

The  non-prefix  languages  are :  (a)  Gola,  an  isolated  tongue 
on  the  Liberian  border  with  no  known  affinities  beyond 
those  existing  between  all  Soudanese  languages,  and  (b)  the 
Mandingo  group,  of  which  the  following  are  included  in 
British  territory :  Susu,  Yalunka,  Koranko,  Kono,  Yai,  Loko, 
and  Me,ndi,  of  which  the  last  differs  in  a  somewhat  marked 
degree  from  the  normal  Mandingo  type. 

Me,ndi  is  and  has  for  some  time  been  swallowing  up  its 
smaller  neighbours,  Bulam  (Sherbro),  Krim,  and  Yai ;  it  is 
by  no  means  improbable  that  some  of  the  features  of  MQndi 
are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Mandingo  element  in  the  tribe 
is  far  smaller  than  in  the  other  tribes  mentioned  above  ;  this 


8 

is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  Mendi  has  several  well-marked 
dialects. 

On  the  north-west  of  Freetown  Bulom,  of  which  the 
Timne  name  is  Mampa,  is  being  swallowed  up  by  Timne,  and 
is  only  found  in  isolated  groups. 

It  is  certain  that  considerable  changes  have  taken  place  in 
comparatively  recent  times  in  the  distribution  of  the  tribes  ; 
for  Port  Loko  is  now  a  Timne  area,  but  from  its  name  it  is 
clear  that  it  has  been  in  recent  times  in  Loko  hands.  The 
Timne  occupation  of  the  Butam  shore  is  also  comparatively 
recent,  if  the  maps  published  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  can  be  accepted  as  a  guide.  Even  in  1854  Koelle 
says  that  Timne  territory  is  south  of  the  "  Sierra  Leone  " 
river.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  treaty  of 
cession  of  the  colony  proves  that  the  Freetown  area  was  in 
Timne  bauds  in  1788. 

As  to  the  conditions  previous  to  this  period  we  have  little 
or  no  information  save  from  tradition,  which  goes  to  show 
that  at  no  very  remote  era  the  Protectorate  was  covered  with 
virgin  forest,  of  which  the  remains  are  found  on  the  Liberian 
boundary  and  between  the  Timne  and  Northern  Mendi 
areas;  south  of  the  forest  lay  the  Bulom,  but  the  forest 
itself  seems  to  have  been  mainly  uninhabited.  One  curious 
fact,  however,  possibly  not  without  significance  in  this 
connection,  may  be  quoted.  The  German  word  for  parrot  is 
"  papagei,"  the  English  word  "  popinjay  "  is  from  the  same 
root,  and  cognate  words  are  found  in  Portuguese  and  other 
European  languages ;  both  have  been  traced  to  Arabic  and 
other  roots,  but  without  any  great  certainty.  The  Timne, 
Limba,  and  Loko  word  for  parrot  is  pampakei,  and  it  seems 
clear  that  the  German  and  Timne  words  are  genetically 
connected.  We  know  that  words  for  pine-apple  (ananas), 
tomato  (tambatis),  etc.,  have  been  introduced  with  the 
objects  themselves ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
parrots,  which  are  comparatively  rare  even  in  the  southern 
Timne  area,  and  quite  unknown  in  the  northern  portions,  so 
far  as  my  observation  goes,  were  ever  introduced  in  the  same 


way,  still  less  that  they  were  introduced  by  Portuguese  or 
other  white  men,  as  must  have  been  the  case  if  the  Timne 
adopted  a  European  word. 

If,  however,  parrots  were  introduced  into  Europe  by  some- 
one who  visited  the  West  Coast  in  the  Middle  Ages  and 
brought  back  some  of  the  birds,  the  puzzle  is  to  explain  why 
they  should  have  adopted  a  name  from  tribes  of  which  two — 
Limba  and  Loko — have  never,  so  far  as  we  know,  been  on 
the  coast,  nor  on  a  navigable  creek  save  at  Port  Loko,  and  the 
third  penetrated  to  the  coast  in  all  probability  long  after  the 
word  reached  Europe. 

There  are  other  tribes  nearer  the  Gambia  which  have  a 
cognate  name  for  parrot,  and  it  may  be  that  it  is  from  them 
and  not  the  Sierra  Leone  tribes  that  the  word  is  borrowed. 
In  any  case  no  certain  inference  can  be  drawn  from  the  facts. 
Tradition  states  that  the  Timne  came  from  the  east,  and 
not  only  have  they  isolated  the  Loko  from  the  Mendi,  sub- 
sequently flowing  round  them  to  the  west,  but  the  Limba 
mass,  north  and  east  of  the  northern  Timne,  has  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  pushed  on  one  side  by  an  incursive 
people,  but  the  fact  that  the  Baga  and  other  tribes  speaking 
Timne  dialects  are  in  French  territory  suggests  that  the 
people  came  from  the  west ;  perhaps  only  the  chief  came 
from  the  east. 

As  regards  the  old  group,  Limba  is  definitely  a  prefix 
language,  as  the  following  forms  show  : — 

Singular.  Plural.  English. 

hutiti  tatiti  tooth 

kutai  natai  foot 

te  hate  fowl 

hurak  inarak  stone 

wali  mbali  slave 

but  names  of  animals,  with  few  exceptions,  seem  to  have  a 
suffix  plural : — 

Singular.  Plural.  English. 

kanrpa  kampan  elephant 

kosa  koseh  pis; 


10 


The  principal  prefix  is  ku,  hu  (ta,  na);  fo  (ta),  fa  (nip, 
na),  w  (b),  are  also  found. 

Tlie  situation  as  to  Timne  is  perfectly  clear.  The  prefixes 
serve  to  form  the  plural,  and  at  the  same  time  indicate 
whether  the  noun  is  in  the  definite  or  indefinite  form,  i.e., 
whether  it  corresponds  to  the  noun  with  the  definite  or  with 
the  indefinite  or  no  article. 

As  regards  Bulom,  Krim,  and  Kisi,  the  situation  is  less 
clear.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  languages  are  closely 
allied  in  vocabulary,  as  the  following  specimens  show  : — 


Bui 'nil. 

Krim. 

Kisi. 

English. 

rin 

ede 

yinde 

hair 

pal 

depande 

paleh 

sun 

pah 

yipaii 

pahge 

moon 

mwen 

m^n 

mtmdah 

water 

kil 

boxi 

keyo 

house 

matulun 

maicoi 

k^iyan 

fat 

[pie] 

wis 

visio 

meat 

kulun 

bilih 

kulin 

goat 

can 

kucan 

kinde 

tooth 

mo 

kamo 

melin 

breast 

su 

kusu 

so 

finger 

kwQn 

lekin 

knife 

tauh 

hotin 

eye 

ijulam  forms  the  plural  in  some  cases  by  prefix,  e.g..  can, 
ncan,  tooth;  rin,  irin,  hair;  rok,  nrok,  grandchildren; 
and  the  same  is  true  of  Krim,  which  is  obviously  a  prefix 
language  in  the  above  list: — tanye,  munye,  ear;  kuca, 
nine  a,  tooth;  kusu,  in  usu,' finger.  Even  Kono  seems  to 
have  the  prefix  plural  in  a  few  forms,  e.g.,  moya,  eya,  eye. 

When,  however,  we  turn  to  Kisi,  the  plural  is  formed  by 
suffix  or  change  of  vowel  in  the  last  syllable : — hotin, 
hotan,  eye;  kinde,  kindon,  tooth;  ba,  balah,  hand; 
keyo,  kerah.  house;  bqngo,  behgulah,  foot. 

It  seems,  however,  evident  that  there  is  no  prefix  change 
to  form  the  plural ;  yet  the  forms  yinde  (hair),  hotin  (eye) 


Plate  I. 


susu  weaving.     See  page  1  2. 


SUSPENSION   BRIDGE  OF  creepers;     See  page  12. 


11 

when    we    compare    them    with    the    forms    in    the    other 
languages  suggest  that  prefixes  are  not  unknown. 

In  some  cases  the  Kisi  suffix  change  seems  to  he  clearly  a 
change  of  form  in  the  determinative  do,  kinde,  kindo,  tooth  ; 
yomdo,  yomde,  tree;  but  in  the  case  of  ba,  balan,  hand; 
keyo,  keran,  house;  kamao,  kamani,  elephant,  we  have 
the  addition  of  1(a),  r(a)  or  n,  which  apparently  indicates  the 
plural. 

On  the  whole  it  seems  probable  that  Kisi,  which  is  isolated 
among  the  Mandingo  group,  has  lost  its  old  prefix  methods 
and  adopted  suffix  change,  in  a  certain  number  of  cases  only, 
as  a  means  of  indicating  the  plural. 

Articles,  or  forms  of  the  noun  taking  the  place  of  articles, 
are  not  a  normal  feature  of  Mandingo  languages.  It 
is  therefore  worthy  of  note  that  Mendi,  and  Lqko,  have 
suffixes  i  with,  in  Mendi  at  least,  different  forms  for  the 
plural  to  indicate  the  definite  and  indefinite  forms  of  the 
noun. 

Kisi  appears  to  use  do,  o,  with  a  plural  ni;  Bulam  and 
Krim  have  a  form  de,  winch  is  apparently  determinative, 
while  Limba  and  Gola  use  yo,  ho;  the  Limba  plural  in  n  is 
perhaps  connected  with  the  form  ni. 

Tones  play  a  considerable  part  in  Mendi,  Limba,  and 
Bulam ;  and  their  importance  in  Mandingo  languages  may 
be  regarded  as  probable.  In  Timne,  on  the  other  hand, 
owing,  no  doubt,  largely  to  the  development  of  prefixes, 
which  vastly  diminish  the  possibility  of  homonyms,  they 
play  a  very  subordinate  role. 

The  small  dialectical  differences  in  Timne  may  point  to  its 
being,  in  its  present  form,  of  late  origin,  which  no  doubt 
favoured  the  dropping  out  of  tones. 

The  mode  of  life  and  native  products  of  the  tribes,  of 
whatever  group,  show  singularly  little  variation  over  the 
whole  area.  The  Yalunka  and  Koranko  are  perhaps  the 
most  diversified  as  regards  manufactures,  though  the 
Koranko  products  on  sale  in  Freetown  are  confined  to  a 
small  area  of  the  Koranko  country. 


12 

Of  important  ethnographical  features  the  xylophone  (Kor 
b  a  Ian  ye,)  is  confined  to  the  Koranko,  the  loom  (Plate  I)  to 
Susu,  Mendi  and  Limba  with  few  exceptions,  pottery  mainly 
to  the  Mendi,  though  this  is  due  principally  to  the  introduction 
of  European  pots,  mainly  of  iron. 

The  general  form  of  the  house  is  everywhere  the  same, 
save  where  the  rectangular  house  has  penetrated,  coming 
from  Freetown.  It  is  circular  with,  as  a  rule,  small  rooms 
outside  the  main  wall,  but  under  the  main  roof.  The  thatch 
is  of  grass  tied  down  on  poles  secured  to  each  other  by  a 
series  of  circular  rings  (Plate  II)  .  The  substructure  of  the 
walls  is  of  wood,  upright  poles  sunk  in  the  ground  with 
horizontal  pieces  to  give  rigidity.  The  portion  of  the  house 
outside  the  main  wall  which  is  not  taken  up  with  the  kohko, 
or  small  room,  is  often  fenced  with  a  low  wall  and  forms  a 
veranda  in  front  and  behind,  which  is  sometimes  on  a  level 
with  the  ground,  sometimes  raised  above  and  approached  by 
steps. 

In  the  Limba  country  near  Kaballa  is  found  a  feature 
very  unusual  in  West  Africa — the  use  of  stone  in  the  con- 
struction of  houses  (Plate  II).  At  present  there  are  no  data 
to  show  whether  this  was  sporadic  or  derived  from  some  other 
area  ;  possibly  the  use  of  sun-dried  bricks  at  Falaba  may 
have  suggested  the  idea;  but  it  is  more  probably  clue  to  the 
scarcity  of  suitable  material  for  house-building  on  the  tops 
of  the  hills. 

The  double  gong  is  characteristic  of  the  Limba. 

In  this  area  we  also  find  large  mud  rice-bins  built  inside  the 
house,  two  or  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  sometimes  as  much 
as  seven  feet  high. 

Native  suspension  bridges  (Plate  I),  in  use  on  the  Seli  and 
other  rivers,  are  perhaps  of  Koranko  origin,  though  they  are 
also  found  in  the  Timne  country  to  the  south  of  this  tribe. 

The  hammock  and  sling  are  in  general  use  among  all  tribes  ; 
loads,  especially  rice,  are  carried  with  a  pack  and  head  band. 

Secret  societies  flourish,  especially  in  the  Mendi  and 
adjacent  Timne  areas,  but  the  Susu  and  Limba  have  important 


Plate  IT. 


house  building  at  mapori.     See  page  12. 


STONE  house  (limba)  at  yakala.     See  page  1 "_'. 


13 

societies.  The  woman's  society,  Bundu,  is  not  known  to  all 
the  Limba,  nor  is  clitoridectomy  practised  west  of  Kaballa ; 
but  there  is  nothing  to  show  by  which  tribe  it  was  introduced 
or  how  it  originated  in  this  part  of  West  Africa.  According 
to  a  MS.  of  Schlenker,  who  was  in  the  Tinine  country  sixty 
years  ago,  Bundu  was  learned  by  the  Timne  from  the  Meridi. 

Circumcision  appears  to  be  universal. 

Various  dialects  of  Timne  are  distinguished  but  the 
differences  are  small.  The  northern  branch  are  known  as 
Sanda  Timne ;  it  was  in  this  area  that  most  of  my  enquiries 
were  made. 


n 


n.— DEMOGRAPHY. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  proportions  of  the  sexes  at  birth 
and  in  mature  life,  and  to  obtain  information  as  to  the 
effect  of  polygyny  on  fecundity,  the  sex  ratio  of  the  first- 
born, the  relative  mortality  of  males  and  females  and  other 
matters,  genealogies  were  collected  giving  details  of  the 
families  of  over  two  hundred  and  seventy  men,  including  one 
with  fifty  wives,  who  was  himself  the  son  of  a  man  who  had 
sixty  wives  and  one  hundred  children. 

Fifty-three  daughters  in  these  families  had  gone  to 
husbands,  but  there  was  no  information  as  to  whether  they 
were  monogamous  marriages  or  not.  There  was,  however,  a 
tendency  to  omit  or  overlook  their  dead  children,  and  the 
same  was  true  in  a  more  marked  degree  of  the  information 
about  older  generations  of  my  informants'  families.  These 
data  are  therefore  not  as  a  rule  included. 

In  addition  to  these  genealogies  a  few  villages  were 
completely  counted  and  random  samplings  were  made  of 
chance  assemblages  of  men  at  various  places.  For  my 
genealogies  were  mainly  derived  from  sub-chiefs  and  were  apt 
to  show  an  undue  proportion  of  polygynous  marriages,  and 
might  introduce  other  errors  into  the  data. 

On  the  whole,  however,  it  was  found  that  the  systematic 
census  could  not  be  carried  out  with  success  even  with  the 
support  of  the  paramount  chief ;  in  more  than  one  place  the 
information  vouchsafed  in  his  presence  was  plainly  erroneous 
and  deliberately  falsified.  In  other  cases  the  paramount  chief 
refused  to  give  any  assistance  in  the  enquiry.  On  the  whole, 
therefore,  the  data  collected  in  this  way  were  in  bulk  con- 
siderably less  than  those  obtained  by  the  genealogical  method, 
and  the  reliability  was  inferior  ;  the  glaringly  erroneous  data 
have,  however,  been  omitted. 

On  the  whole,  the  two   sets  of  statistics  show  such  close 


15 

agreement  as  regards  the  sex  ratio  in  the  total  births  that 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  their  reliability.  As  might 
perhaps  be  expected,  the  mortality,  both  among  males  and 
females,  was  higher  in  the  general  count  than  in  the 
genealogies. 

Generally  speaking,  in  the  genealogies  there  were  422 
male  births  to  258  female,  a  ratio  of  100  to  61 ;  in  the 
census  294  to  206,  a  ratio  of  100  to  69.  Males  surviving 
were  to  females  surviving  in  the  ratios  of  100  to  55-6  and 
100  to  64. 

Taking  the  children  and  grouping  together  those  of  the 
first  wife,  whether  in  polygynous  or  monogynous  families, 
and  so  on,  we  find,  though  with  very  small  numbers,  a  small 
drop  in  the  percentage  of  females  from  the  third  wife 
onwards, — only  54  per  cent. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  proportion  held  good  in 
the  large  polygynous  family  mentioned  above,  in  which  thirty 
males  were  borne  by  the  wives  numbered  seven  and  upwards 
on  my  list,  and  only  fifteen  females.  There  is,  however,  some 
uncertainty  as  to  the  precise  order  of  the  wives,  as  my 
informant  was  a  junior  member  of  the  family  and  no  senior 
member  was  available,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  some  of 
the  thirty-five  unfertile  wives  should  have  been  included 
among  the  first  six. 

Generally  speaking,  however,  the  data  confirm  the  results 
obtained  in  Nigeria  that  polygyny  favours  an  excess  of  male 
births ;  but  having  regard  to  the  small  numbers  and  to  the 
natural  excess  of  male  births  even  in  monogynous  marriages 
— a  condition  that  does  not  prevail  in  Nigeria — the  result  is 
less  important  than  might  appear  at  first  sight. 

In  the  census  it  was  impossible  to  establish  in  every  case 
which  was  the  first  wife ;  and  similar  figures  can  only  be 
given  therefore  under  great  reservations.  So  far  as  they  go, 
the  numbers  being  still  smaller  than  in  the  genealogies,  there 
is  hardly  any  difference  between  the  numbers  of  the  two 
sexes  born  by  wives  numbered  from  four  upwards  ;  but  the 
total  number  of  children  was  less  than  fifty. 


16 

If  we  now  group  the  children  by  patrilineal  families  instead 
of  by  the  numerical  order  of  their  mothers,  we  find  in  the 
genealogies  no  marked  law  in  the  proportion  of  females 
which  is  60,  62,  53,  74,  79,  43,  in  ascending  order  of  families 
according  to  the  number  of  wives  per  family  up  to  six. 

In  the  census  the  proportion  of  females  is  75,  45,  50,  109, 
75,  63.  Here  again,  therefore,  there  is  no  evidence  of  the 
operation  of  any  law. 

Taking  now  the  sex  ratio  of  the  first-born,  for  which  the 
genealogies  alone  are  available,  we  find  the  proportion  of 
females  is  for  the  wives  in  order  39,  60,  40,  115,  0,  200  (or, 
for  the  last  three,  66) ;  and  by  families,  43,  44,  54,  60,  55,  21 
(for  six  and  all  above).  Here  again  there  is  no  evidence  of 
law,but  the  generalratio,  46  females  to  100  males,  is  markedly 
different  from  the  ratio  for  all  births ;  the  difference  is  less 
marked  if  we  add  the  families  of  the  daughters  mentioned 
above  (p.  14),  in  which  the  ratio  was  76  per  cent.  The  first 
ratio  by  wives  then  becomes  47,  and  by  families  54. 

As  regards  sterility,  it  is  natural  that  in  the  case  of  men 
with  one  wife  a  considerable  proportion  should  be  recently 
married  and  therefore   appear,  unjustly,  among  the  sterile. 
Out  of  a  total  of  191  monogamous  marriages,  including  those 
of  daughters,    27    were  unfertile,   nearly   one-seventh.     As, 
however,    36  out   of  193    non-monogynous  marriages   were 
sterile,  a  proportion  of  three-sixteenths,  it  is  not  certain  that 
one-seventh  is  too  high  a  ratio.     It  must  of  course  be  recog- 
nised that  the  causes  that  made  three  out  of  five  wives  sterile 
in  one  case  are  very  possibly  not  the  same  as  those  which 
made  a  monogamous  wife  sterile ;  in  the  case  of  one  large 
family  in  which,  in   the  first  generation,  one  man  had  100 
children,  and  one  of  his  sons  had  67  by  50  wives,  no  less  than 
thirty-five  of  these  wives  had  no  children,  and  if  data  were 
available  as  to  his  father  the  proportion  would  probably  be 
equally  great. 

In  a  certain  number  of  polygynous  marriages  the  most 
recent  wife  might  have  been  married  within  the  year  and 
therefore  figure  as  sterile.     But  obviously  this  proportion,  if 


17 

we  take  the  case  of  a  man  with  two  wives,  will  probably  not 
be  more  than  one-half  what  it  is  in  monogynous  marriages, 
one-third  in  the  case  of  the  man  with  three  wives  and  so  on. 
On  the  whole,  therefore,  allowing  for  the  fact  that  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  women  are  naturally  sterile,  it  is  clear  that 
the  proportion  of  sterility  among  polygynons  wives  is  enor- 
mously in  excess  of  what  it  is  in  the  monogynons  family. 

Turning  now  to  the  number  of  children  per  wife,  we  find 
that,  even  excluding  sterile  marriages,  there  is  a  progressive 
diminution  as  the  number  of  wives  increases.  The  married 
life  of  the  second  and  later  wives  has  ex  hypothesi  been 
shorter  than  that  of  the  first  wives ;  but  this  fact  hardly  seems 
to  explain  entirely  the  diminution  in  fertility,  which  descends 
from  2'7  for  the  first  wife  to  1*8  for  two,  16  for  three,  and 
1*4  for  four  to  six. 

No  stress  can,  however,  be  laid  upon  these  data,  in  view  of 
the  small  numbers  involved,  and  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  census  figures  do  not  confirm  them,  the  numbers 
being  2-3,  2'5,  2'4,  3*9  (mainly  owing  to  two  families,  one  of 
27,  one  of  17),  3,  and  26. 

It  has,  however,  been  noted  above  that  the  census  figures 
were  demonstrably  unreliable  in  some  cases,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable  that  while  some  unduly  diminished  the 
numbers  of  their  children,  others  unduly  magnified  them. 

It  seems  clear  from  the  census  that  males  are  slightly  in 
excess  of  females.  The  results  show  360  living  males  of  all 
ages  and  348  females,  exclusive  of  casual  lodgers  in  a  house 
with  only  remote  relationship  to  the  head,  or,  at  any  rate, 
no  direct  relationship  of  descent.  These  include  a  certain 
number  of  women  who  have  lost  their  husbands,  and  if  they 
are  included  they  would  be  nearly,  if  not  quite,  counterbalanced 
by  the  males,  more  especially  younger  brothers,  who  had  lost 
their  fathers  and  were  without  homes  of  their  own.  The  ao-e 
of  marriage  being  much  lower  for  the  woman,  the  number  of 
females  living  under  corresponding  circumstances  is  also 
much  lower. 

On  the  whole  the  proportion  of  twin  births  appears  to  be 

C 


18 

exceedingly  low.  Twins  are  not  regarded  as  unlucky,  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  twin  births  were 
concealed.  The  fact  that  in  many  cases  special  names  are 
given  to  twins,  such  as  Sento  and  Sino,  and  that  the  child 
next  after  twins  is  often  called  'Bese  (to  be  distinguished 
from  another  name  similarly  spelt  but  with  different  tone — 
'Bese),  makes  it  comparatively  easy  to  detect  the  presence 
of  twins,  even  if  the  actual  information  is  erroneous  or 
defective. 

Excluding  the  descendants  of  Seni  Kabia  of  Magbile,  only 
six  or  seven  cases  of  twin  births  are  recorded  in  the 
genealogy,  a  far  lower  proportion  than  appeared  to  prevail  in 
Nigeria,  where  twins  are,  or  were,  systematically  exposed  by 
many  tribes,  and,  prima  facie,  the  twin-bearing  stock 
correspondingly  depleted. 

In  the  family  of  Seni  Kabia,  on  the  other  hand,  twins 
were  far  more  numerous,  though  not  perhaps  exceptionally 
so  in  comparison  with  the  normal  European  stock. 

Seni  Kabia  was  himself  a  twin ;  among  his  children  were 
two  pairs  of  twins  ;  and  one  of  his  children,  not  himself  a 
twin,  had  also  two  pairs,  as  to  whom  no  further  information 
was  obtained. 

Fode  Kabia,  son  of  Seni  Kabia,  had  by  his  first  wife  three 
sets  of  twins  among  his  twelve  children,  all  but  one  of  the 
twins  being  males.  One  of  these  twins  was  himself  the 
father  of  twins,  born  prematurely.  One  other  son  of  Fode 
was  also  the  father  of  twins.  There  were  in  all  ten  pairs 
among  250  names  recorded  in  the  genealogies  of  the 
descendants  of  Seni  Kabia ;  only  six  or  seven  were  recorded, 
on  the  other  hand,  among  the  750  names  in  the  remainder 
of  the  genealogies. 

In  Tables  I  and  III  square  brackets  show  the  number  of 
dead  wives,  round  brackets  the  number  of  unfertile  wives. 


19 


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c  2 


20 


Table  II. 
Wives  and  Childeen  (Genealogies). 


The  wives  are  given  in  each  case  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  married. 


Plate  J II. 


21 


Table  III. 

Wives  and  Children  (by  Families).     Sex  Eatio  of 
First-born,  etc. 


Number 

of 

wives. 

Children. 

Number 

per 
marriage. 

First- 
born 
male. 

First- 
born 

female. 

Males. 

Females. 

188   \ 
(38)  J 

296 

174 

2-5 

121 

48 

First  wife. 

50   \ 
(12)  J 

64 

50 

1-8 

33 

20 

Second  wife. 

29   I 
(8)  / 

45 

16 

1-6 

18-5* 

7'5* 

Third  wife. 

14   \ 
(7)  J 

16 

12 

1-3 

6-5* 

7  '5* 

Fourth  wife. 

o6)} 

10 

1 

1-6 

5 

0 

Fifth  wife. 

(?)} 

1 

5 

1-5 

1 

2 

Sixth  wife. 

290 
(67) 

432 

258 

185 

85 

*  Twins. 
In  this  table  round  brackets  show  the  number  of  unfertile  wives. 


22 


O 


h 


O 


J- 

o     < 
o 


road 


4        O'- 
The  above  is  the  ground  plan  of  a  typical  village  in  the 
Sanda  country.      The   houses  were   all   small,  but,  almost 
without  exception,  had  verandas. 

The  occupants  were  as  follows : — 

1.  KQmbo,  father's  brother's  son  of  No.  4. 

2.  10.  Ke,nani,  father's  brother  of  No.  4. 

3.  Drisa,  father's  father's  son's  son  of  No.  4. 

4.  Pa  Woso,  head  man  of  the  village. 

5.  Karefala,  father's  father's  son's  son. 

6.  Bokari  I,  sister's  son  to  No.  4. 

7.  Bainya,  brother  of  12  and  father's  father's  son  of  4. 

8.  Basi,  „  „  „      „ 

9.  Bankara,  „  „  „      „ 

11.  Moino,  „  „  „      „ 

12.  Bokari  II,  brother  of  7,  „  „  „      „ 

13.  Held  in  trust  by  Pa  Woso  for  the  prospective  second 

husband,  Bonka,  of  the  late  owner's  widow  ;  she 
was  "Woso's  brother's  daughter,  and  lived  with  Bokari 
in  No.  12 ;  [this  thirteenth  house  was  untenanted.] 


One  house  was   building, 
houses  were : — 


The   other   inmates   of   these 


23 


Table  IV. 


s 

9 

Alive.           Dead. 

Alive. 

Dead. 

1. 

Three  of  K's  father's  wives. 
Also  Baki  (son). 

(1) 

(2) 

2.(1) 

(2) 
(3) 

1        :h 

1                    2                    1 

1  3 

2  2                    1 

Also  brother's  wife,  childless,  in  No 

1 

5 
1 

10. 

3.(1) 

(2) 
4.(1) 

(2) 
(3) 

3 
1 
1 
(marrie 

Also  B 

2 
d  in  preced 

. "           " 
asi  (son). 

2 
3 

1 
ing  year). 
n 

1 
1 
2 

(1) 

(2) 

5.  (1) 

1 
2 

— 

1 

— 

(2) 

(married  preceding  year). 
Also  one  brother. 

(1) 
6.  (1)  (a  widow) 

Also  his  mother. 

1 

7.(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 

8.(1) 

(2) 

2 
(recent 

2 

3 

1                    1 
ly  married  and  pregnai 

t) 

3 

Also  Morlai  (son),  one  wife,  no  childien. 

9.(1) 

— 

— . 

. — ■ 

— 

(2)  (dead) 

(3)  „ 

Also  m 

other  and  a 

2 
mall  brothe 

r. 

— 

11.(1) 

—                   1 

— 

— 

12.  (1) 

3                    1 

— 

— 

(2) 
(3) 

1                    l 
Also  a  widow,  Binki, 

in  this  hous 

1 

e. 

1 

Totals      15      men,     27 
(+  2  dead) 


24         |         13  21  16 

and    two    mothers,    two    brothers,    one 
brother's  wife,  and  four  widows. 


24 

From  the  close  relationship  of  all  the  men  of  the  village, 
it  might  be  imagined  that  it  was  founded  by  Pa  Woso's 
grandfather,  but  this  did  not  appear  to  be  the  case,  for  it 
was  said  to  be  the  oldest  in  the  district.  Possibly  the 
explanation  lies  in  part  in  the  fact  that  four  of  the  men  had 
died  in  the  previous  months,  and  four  more  were  gone  away 
to  work.  This  accounts  also  to  some  extent  for  the  large 
proportion  of  wives — nearly  two  per  adult  male  exclusive  of 
the  widows. 


25 


III.  -PARAMOUNT    CHIEF. 

The  kande  or  paramount  chief  seems  to  be  a  comparatively 
recent  figure  in  many  areas;  some,  it  is  true,  trace  their 
power  back  to  Bai  Farama  (or  Farama  Tami),  who  lived 
perhaps  four  hundred  years  ago  ;  but  in  many  cases  the 
chieftainship  seems  to  go  back  only  a  few  generations,  and 
the  original  chief  is  said  to  have  gained  his  position  by  his 
wealth ;  for  in  olden  days  it  appears  to  have  been  the  duty 
of  a  paramount  chief  to  compose  differences  by  liberal 
presents  to  both  sides.  Where  two  tribes  were  fighting,  a 
chief  might  spend  £15  to  £20  and  send  money  to  both 
parties.  If  they  agreed  to  stop  hostilities,  an  oath  was 
taken  and  a  cow,  given  by  the  chief,  was  sacrificed.  This 
was  divided  into  three  parts,  one  for  each  of  the  contending 
parties  and  one  for  the  chief. 

In  other  cases,  especially  where  there  are  now  two 
"families  "  {i.e.,  a  bun  a,  clans)  which  share  the  succession  to 
the  chieftainship,  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  second  family 
gained  its  position  owing  to  assistance  given  in  war  to  the 
original  family.  The  rule  of  succession  is,  of  course,  not  in 
the  direct  male  line  where  there  are  two  or  more  houses, 
which  sometimes  represent,  not  original  clans,  but  des- 
cendants of  the  same  male  ancestor;  the  term  for '"house"  in 
this  case  is  kunte.  In  some  cases  at  least  the  two-clan  rule 
is  traced  back  to  the  fact  that  a  sister  of  the  original  chief  or 
one  of  his  successors  was  the  mother  of  a  man  elected  to  the 
chieftainship.  Under  the  rule  of  exogamy  this  necessarily 
involves  a  change  of  clan. 

It  is,  however,  clear  that  the  simple  dying  out  of  the 
original  family  or  the  youth  of  its  eldest  male  members  when 
the   time  came   for   them  to  succeed,  is   not   an   adequate 


26 

explanation  of  succession  through  the  female  line ;  for  in 
some  cases  there  is  a  record  of  a  chief's  daughter  helping  him 
and  being  the  overseer  of  his  house.  This  suggests  that  she 
probably  attained  some  authority  and  was  able  to  influence 
the  election. 

In  some  cases  the  two  houses  are  actually  of  different 
tribes  ;  at  Kamalu  there  is  a  Loko  and  a  Timne  line,  though 
it  must  be  remembered  that,  owing  to  the  suzerainty  claimed 
by  Brama  Sanda,  Kamalu  was  never  recognised  as  a  full 
chieftaincy. 

The  original  chiefs  were  by  no  means  necessarily  of  the 
same  blood  as  the  people  whom  they  governed.  It  is,  indeed, 
not  quite  clear  how  far  the  country  was  populated,  nor  how 
far  the  travellers  from  the  east  brought  their  own  people 
with  them  ;  but  tradition  makes  it  clear  that  Koranko, 
Mandingo,  Loko,  and  Limba  houses  are  now  among  the 
Timne  chiefs. 

The  paramount  chief  is  supreme  in  his  own  district,  and 
can  in  theory  decide  law  cases  as  he  chooses ;  if,  however, 
his  decisions  are  glaringly  opposed  to  recognised  law,  the 
aggrieved  suitor  has,  at  least  in  theory,  the  power  to  go  to 
another  chief,  of  repute  as  a  judge,  and,  after  paying  a  fee, 
state  his  case  to  him ;  the  chief  would  then  send  to  the  chief 
who  tried  the  case  originally,  and  request  him  to  remit  it 
to  him  for  re-trial ;  this,  of  course,  in  order  to  secure  the 
presence  of  the  other  party  and  the  witnesses.  It  appears 
to  be  held  that  a  chief  cannot,  without  loss  of  reputation, 
refuse  to  allow  a  fellow-chief  to  review  his  decisions ;  but 
whether  a  suitor  would  gain  anything  in  the  long  run  by 
appealing  against  his  chief's  law  is  quite  another  matter. 

His  authority  over  his  sub-chiefs  appears  to  be  almost 
absolute. 

The  customs  with  regard  to  the  election,  crowning,  burial, 
etc.,  of  the  chief  differ  widely  from  place  to  place,  and  no 
generalised  account  of  the  matter  can  be  given.  Many  of 
these  customs  are  regarded  as  secret,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
check  the  information,  which  appeared  to  be  given  in  good 


27 

faith  and  with  the  tacit  consent  of  the  chief ;  in  more  than 
one  case,  in  fact,  the  chief's  son  himself  gave  me  the  facts, 
evidently  on  his  father's  behalf. 

The  chiefs  are  subject  to  many  ritual  prohibitions  over  and 
above  those  incumbent  on  the  mass  of  the  people  (see  p.  69) ; 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  some  interest  to  discover  how  these 
arose.  A  natural  idea  would  be  that  those  chiefs  who  came 
from  other  tribes  brought  with  them  their  tribal  customs 
and  retained  them  unchanged  ;  but  of  this  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  any  evidence ;  on  the  contrary,  Koranko  chiefs 
in  their  own  country  are  singularly  unhampered  by  ritual 
restrictions.  It  appears  far  more  probable  that  the  prohibi- 
tions were  developed,  at  least  in  part,  by  the  contact  between 
a  foreign  chief  and  an  indigenous  people,  precisely  as  the 
contact  between  two  races  has  a  tendency  to  cause  the 
development  of  secret  societies. 

In  the  Sanda  country,  corresponding  to  the  subordinate 
position  of  the  chiefs,  the  mas  am  and  the  customs  generally 
are  of  minor  importance.  At  Kanialu  the  choice  of  a  new 
chief,  always  from  the  other  house,  i.e.,  from  the  alternative 
one  to  that  of  the  last  chief,  appears  to  rest  with  the  men  of 
sixty  or  over.  A  man  of  the  second  house  appears  to  act  as 
adviser  to  a  chief  of  the  first  house.  The  chief  is  known  as 
Bai  Samura. 

When  the  time  comes  for  crowning,  the  chosen  man  is  shut 
up  in  the  kanta  for  six  days  or  more  ;  his  wife  cooks  for 
him,  and  the  important  men  may  also  see  him. 

The  house  is  "  opened  "  for  the  chief  to  come  out  by  the 
or  ok,  or  resent,  who  is  often  his  sister's  son.  The  chief  is 
taken  to  the  grass  field  and  they  name  his  clan,  and  ask  the 
other  clansmen  if  they  are  glad ;  thereupon  they  put  con- 
tributions in  a  calabash,  and  a  mo,  rim  an  puts  a  white  cloth 
on  the  chief's  head  and  takes  the  money  given.  The  end  of 
this  cloth  must  hang  down  to  the  chief's  waist  from  the  back 
of  his  head  ;  for  a  sub-chief  it  is  on  the  right  side. 

When  he  sends  for  a  town  to  work  for  him,  they  work  for 
one  day ;  four  days  later  another  town  comes,  and  so  on. 


28 

In  the  remainder  of  the  Timne  area  we  find  the  para- 
mount chiefs  proper,  who  are  divided  into  Poro  and  Kagbenle 
chiefs  (see  p.  143).  All,  or  nearly  all,  are  subject  to  special 
ritual  prohibitions,  the  origin  of  which  is  obscure.  Although 
tradition  says  that  the  chiefs  came  from  the  east,  and  some,  at 
least,  were  Korankos,  ritual  prohibitions  of  this  kind  were 
not  found  among  the  Koranko  chiefs  visited. 

In  some  chiefdoms  there  is  a  man  who  represents  the 
"  chiefship  kri.fi." 

At  Mamaka  he  is  called  Sanko  (Plate  IV) ;  Sanko  and  the 
chief,  Satimaka,  must  be  in  separate  houses  ;  like  the  chief,  he 
may  not  go  where  bundu  implements  are  kept,  nor  where 
tli ere  is  a  new-born  child.  It  is  significant  that  at  the  chief's 
death  his  Sanko  retires  and  is  replaced  by  another  man  after 
offering  a  sacrifice. 

Sanko  wears  a  helmet  of  leather  surmounted  by  a  tuft ;  the 
face  is  of  brass  and  there  is  a  brass  plate  behind  ;  strips  of 
leopard  skin  are  attached  to  the  base,  and  over  the  skin  is 
fibre  that  reaches  to  the  waist.  He  has  fibre  ruffles  round 
his  wrists  and  net  anklets  with  fibre  tops.  Four  sticks  tied 
together  (bonkQloma)  are  in  his  hand  ;  they  are  the  chief's 
staff ;  in  point  of  fact  the  staff  actually  used  by  the  chief  is 
quite  different,  long  and  forked  at  the  top. 

The  chiefship  mask  of  Magbile  is  known  as  arqn  arabai; 
like  Sanko  the  wearer  cannot  come  out  when  the  chief  is 
dead ;  the  mask  is  kept  in  the  chief's  house.  The  dress  is 
formed  of  skins,  and  he  has  palm-fibre  trousers. 

When  he  goes  out  to  walk  through  the  land  he  carries  a 
broom  and  whips  to  flog  people  who  do  not  come  out  when 
he  dances.  He  can  judge  cases  and  pay  the  money  received 
to  the  chief. 


Plate  IV. 


r. 


29 


IV.—  RELIGION. 

Although  the  coming  of  Mohammedanism  doubtless  modi- 
fied profoundly  in  some  directions  the  traditional  belief  and 
customs  of  the  natives,  especially  in  the  direction  of  decad- 
ence, without  any  corresponding  influx  of  new  ideas  or  rites 
to  take  the  place  of  those  that  fell  into  desuetude,  it  does 
not  seem  difficult  to  descry  the  main  features  of  the  pre- 
Mohammedan  religion.  This  did  not  differ  very  widely  from 
what  is  found,  with  larger  or  smaller  variations,  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  negro  area. 

(1)  The  main  deity,  known  as  Kuru,  or  Kurumasaba, 
appears  to  have  been  a  sky  god  ;  he  occasionally  receives 
sacrifices,  and  this  is  possibly  a  Mohammedan  innovation,  for 
in  the  prayers  that  are  the  main  feature  of  the  satka  (see 
p.  52)  Kurumasaba  is  clearly  regarded  as  the  equivalent 
of  Alia.  Though  Alia  is  doubtless  the  deity  invoked  and 
approached  in  the  mosque,  where  the  moriman's  influence 
is  supreme,  it  is  Kurumasaba  who  is  addressed,  even  by  the 
good  Mussulman,  as  soon  as  the  literary  influence  is  left 
behind. 

The  mere  fact  that  the  satka  comprehends  so  many  and 
so  diverse  elements  is  a  proof,  if  any  were  needed,  that  the 
religious  life  has  been  little  influenced  by  Mohammedanism  ; 
but  the  name  satka  is  clearly  due  to  its  influence,  and  may 
have  been  extended  to  cover  many  rites  not  originally 
embraced  under  one  name  or  regarded  as  identical  in  their 
nature  ;  we  need  not,  however,  suppose  that  Kurumasaba 
was  originally  called  upon  in  all  these  diverse  ceremonies. 

In  addition  to  Kurumasaba,  we  find  at  least  one,  and, 
perhaps,  more  than  one,  shadowy  figure  that  suggests  a 
heathen   pantheon   in    former   days.     It  was   formerly  the 


30 

custom,  and  the  practice  still  survives  sporadically,  to  weep 
for  Kumba  at  the  beginning  of  the  farming  season. 

A  long  shed  was  made  near  the  town  and  hoed  with  hooked 
sticks  instead  of  iron  hoes ;  then  rice  was  planted  in  the 
ground  thus  hoed.  All  the  little  children  in  the  town  went 
out  repeating,  "  We  cry  for  Kumba ;  they  are  planting  his 
rice  to-day." 

Some  of  the  people  in  the  town  danced  and  sang  :  "  Abok 
Kumban  o,  abok  Kumban  o" — "We  cry  for  Kumba, 0, 
we  cry  for  Kumba."   Xo  one  did  any  other  work  on  this  day. 

The  rice  was  left  uncut,  for  it  was  Kumba's  ;  he  was  said 
to  be  a  very  bad  man  wrho  spoiled  all  the  rice  in  the  world, 
and  they  had  to  plant  his  rice,  they  believed,  when  they 
began  farming. 

This  account  of  a  custom  now  almost  forgotten  suggests 
that  Kumba  was  a  vegetation  god  of  the  type  of  Adonis ; 
nothing  could,  in  that  case,  be  more  accurate  than  the  state- 
ment that  he  owns  all  the  rice  in  the  world ;  and  when  the 
custom  began  to  fall  into  desuetude,  the  belief  might  well 
take  the  form  that  Kumba  had  to  be  propitiated  in  order 
that  he  might  not  spoil  the  rice,  his  rites  being  regarded  as 
on  all  fours  with  those  that  are  directed  towards  preserving 
the  rice  from  the  krifi  and  animals. 

In  a  neiohbourincr  town,  though  of  another  tribe,  Kumba 
was  mentioned  in  another  connection ;  when  no  rain  fell,  all 
people  who  had  farms  went  out  singing,  "We  Kumba."  The 
meaning  of  this  was  unknown,  nor  was  anyone  able  to  inform 
me  who  Kumba  was,  though  it  was  suggested  that  he  was  a 
witch. 

The  rice  gardens  in  this  town,  which  belongs  to  the  Loko 
tribe,  were  made  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  Sanda  (Timne) 
country,  and  the  additional  information  was  vouchsafed  that 
the  hooked  sticks  used  as  hoes  were  hung  in  the  roof  of  the 
long  hut. 

The  custom  appears  to  be  known  asTubahga;  it  was 
associated  in  their  minds  with  their  "  old  people  who  died," 
for  they  interfered  with  the  farming;    the  hoes  they  used 


31 

were  the  hooks  hung  in  the  roof,  and  it  was  believed  that 
they  would  use  them  again  in  cultivating  the  rice  sown  for 
them  under  the  long  roof. 

It  was  added  that  rice  had  to  be  offered  on  the  graves,  for 
otherwise  dead  men  would  catch  the  hoes,  and  there  would 
be  no  good  rice.  The  rice  sown  in  the  huts  was  left  uncut ; 
it  was  masom. 

These  accounts,  perhaps,  hardly  add  to  the  probability  that 
Kumba  was  a  vegetation  deity,  though  it  is  true  that  powers 
over  rain  are  ascribed  to  these  beings  in  European  folk-lore, 
and  it  is  a  Loko  belief,  apparently,  that  Kumba  withholds 
the  rain,  or  that  an  appeal  to  him  will  cause  rain  to  fall. 

It  might  be  argued  that  the  rice  gardens  were  connected 
with  the  cult  of  ancestors  when  the  Kumba  belief  fell  into 
the  background ;  but  it  might  equally  well  be  argued  that 
the  belief  in  Kumba's  connection  with  rice  was  secondary. 
This  explanation  seems  more  probable  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  farther  south  in  the  Tinme  country  Kumban  was  not 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  custom,  which  was  called 
Atobankere.  Two  small  huts  were  built  with  a  path 
between,  and  rice  was  sown  in  this  and  left  to  fall.  It  was 
universal  some  fifty  years  ago,  but  is  now  obsolete. 

(2)  Below  the  main  deity  or  deities  come,  as  might  be 
expected,  a  mass  of  minor  spirits. 

(a)  Some,  and  these  form  by  far  the  majority,  are  name- 
less and  known  only  by  the  generic  term  krifi, 
which  in  some  tribes  are  not  unnaturally  equated 
by  the  learned  with  the  Arab  jin,  and  among  the 
Susu  are  actually  known  by  the  name  yina. 

(V)  Others  have  definite  names  of  their  own,  though 
apparently  localised  in  more  than  one  place,  and 
therefore  far  from  being  single  individuals. 

The  nameless  krifi  are  vaguely  divided  into  good  and  bad  ; 
sacrifices  are  offered  to  the  former,  especially  in  connection 
with  farming,  sometimes  in  association  with  Kurumasaba 
and  the  ancestors ;  these  good  krifi  are  often  supposed  to 


32 

live  near  the  town,  whereas  the  bad  krifi  live  in  the  middle 
of  the  grass  field  or  in  the  hush.  But  it  happened  to  me 
more  than  once  that  some  of  my  staff  described  a  krifi  whom 
they  had  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town  (actually  a 
somewhat  dwarfish  native  of  the  town),  and  obviously  stood 
in  tenor  of  him. 

Some  physical  malformation  is  often  attributed  to  the  bad' 
krifi :  their  fingers  are  bent  and  they  are  wry-necked ;  but 
it  is  dangerous  for  anyone  to  laugh  at  them,  for  the  krifi 
kills  the  disrespectful  onlooker.  Other  krifi  are  "born" 
with  hands  against  their  heads.  Krifi  are  both  male  and 
female,  and  according  to  one  informant  men  see  the  female 
krifi,  women  the  male  krifi ;  they  are  also  supposed  to  be 
succ.ubi  and  incubi. 

Bad  krifi  carry  off  the  children  to  the  bush;  they  are 
recovered  by  "  swearing "  on  an  oath  medicine  (see  p.  80) ; 
this  alarms  the  krifi,  and  the  children  come  back;  but  they 
become  crazy  if  they  talk  about  their  experiences. 

Krifi  akant  (bush  krifi)  are  not  the  same  as  those  that 
spoil  the  rice  ;  they  live  in  ant-hills,  which  have  insects 
inside.  Abempa  must  be  performed  for  them  or  they  will 
cause  big  sores,  or  a  man  will  wound  himself  in  the  farm. 
As  they  are  bush  krifi,  cassava  that  is  planted  in  the  bush  is 
put  near  them.  This  kind  of  krifi  causes  erotic  dreams, 
and  when  it  is  really  angry  it  punishes  a  man  by  bringing 
his  real  sister,  with  whom  he  commits  incest  in  the  night 
unknowingly.  If  a  woman  is  followed  by  a  krifi,  she  offers 
cassava,  bread,  a  stone  and  an  ant-heap.  The  krifi  is  told 
to  look  after  the  cassava  till  it  grows,  as  it  is  his ;  if  he  does 
not  do  so,  thieves  may  come. 

For  the  b^mpa  rice  must  be  provided  and  rubbish  cleared 
away.  After  splitting  a  kola  nut  the  man  says  :  "  Lout  a, 
lonta"  (as  people  do  to  the  chief  before  discussing  a  palaver 
in  his  bare).  Then  they  put  the  kola  together  again, 
saying  :  "  I  come  to  you  ;  I  have  brought  you  food."  "When 
the  kola  is  thrown,  if  the  sections  lie  face  up,  the  man  says  : 
•'  "VVe  beg,  we  beg,"  and  eats  it  on  the  ground.     A  fowl  is 


33 

then  killed  by  cutting  its  throat  on  the  top  of  the  ant-hill, 
and  rice  cooked.  Water  is  brought  by  two  people  and  the 
rice  and  fowl  are  divided  between  the  krifi  and  the  man 
who  offers  the  b qui  pa.  He  says  :  "  This  is  the  rice  ;  I  come 
to  beg  you  that  when  I  walk  I  may  not  wound  myself." 

One  krifi  is  specially  appropriated  to  women;  it  is  called 
asar  (stone),  and  is  said  to  bring  children.  For  the  be,  in  pa  a 
small  cup  is  used  with  bread  inside  and  white  shirting  round 
it,  and  is  offered  by  a  woman  who  has  not  conceived  for  a 
whole  twelvemonth.  When  a  child  is  born,  two  white 
fowls  are  offered  and  sickness  is  thus  averted. 

Girls  who  go  fishing  have  a  krifi ;  thev  kill  a  smooth 
lizard  (k  ok  on  to)  and  give  it  to  the  krifi,  which  is 
represented  by  a  white  stone  ;  then  all  eat,  or  they  will 
catch  no  fish. 

In  Like  manner  boys  who  set  traps  cook  and  offer  to  the 
trap  itself  the  first  handful  of  food  on  a  cassava  leaf ;  the 
trap  is  beaten  with  two  sticks  to  make  it  catch  game,  for 
otherwise  it  will  not  kill. 

This  krifi  differs  from  all  others  in  being  a  manufactured 
object,  thus  coming  near  many  of  the  personal  tutelary 
deities  of  Nigeria.  The  detail  as  to  the  beating  of  the  trap 
is  a  singular  one  and  recalls  the  many  stories  current  in 
literature  about  the  "  fetish  "  that  is  beaten  or  thrown  away 
if  it  does  not  profit  the  owner.  In  the  present  case  the 
information  was  volunteered,  not  given  in  answer  to  a 
question.  It  is  not,  however,  clear  that  the  beating  is  ever 
repeated  ;  and  clearly  a  beating  when  the  trap  is  first  made 
is  not  precisely  on  all  fours  with  a  beating  administered 
because  it  has  failed  to  catch  game. 

There  is  of  course  nothing  impossible  or  inherently  absurd 
in  the  idea  of  chastising  gods  ;  but  in  the  present  case  there 
is  at  least  a  possibility  that  the  original  purpose  of  the  rite 
was  not  chastisement. 

Whatever  may  be  the  case  with  the  bad  krifi,  it  seems 
probable  that  the  good  krifi  are  confused  with,  if  they  did 
not  originate  in,  the  "  old  dead  people."     After  talking  about 

D 


34 

krifi  one  informant  went  on  to  deal  with  the  cult  of 
ancestors  and  said  that  when  a  man  died,  they  took  a  stone 
to  represent  him  (in  the  boromasar)  and  "worshipped" 
him  in  this  form.  They  were  told  to  do  this  by  the 
morinian,  who  talks  to  the  krifi  and  is  commonly  supposed 
to  be  able,  after  shutting  himself  up  for  seven  days  and 
living  on  rice-bread,  to  tell  people  all  about  heaven  and  hell. 

Among  the  good  krifi  are  the  tambara  ant^f,  who 
"  have  "  the  country  ;  all  towns  collect  fowls  and  rice  and  all 
head  men  go  to  this  abempa.  These  krifi  live  in  every  big 
tree  on  the  roads,  never  in  the  towns. 

The  term  krifi  is,  however,  used  in  a  still  wider  sense. 
In  addition  to  tutelary  spirits  (possibly  ancestral)  associated 
with  towns,  and  others  of  uncertain  nature  connected  with 
certain  chiefs  (see  p.  28),  all  secret  societies  have  associated 
with  them  a  krifi  (actually  represented  by  a  human  being- 
like  some  of  those  just  mentioned)  which  holds  the  same 
position,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  as  the  masked  figures  in 
Nigerian  societies ;  that  is  to  say,  for  the  uninitiated, 
especially  the  women,  there  is  something  mysterious  and 
perhaps  awful  about  such  a  being,  who  may  perhaps  be 
regarded  as  having  been  originally  a  kind  of  tutelary  deity 
of  the  society  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  possible  that,  the 
aim  of  the  societies  being,  in  some  cases,  to  educate  or 
to  exercise  judicial  functions,  the  krifi  was  originally  a 
mere  bugbear. 

Among  the  krifi  that  possess  personal  names  must  be 
mentioned  Aronso,  the  hunter  krifi ;  it  carries  a  gun  and 
kills  people  and  cows,  using  stolen  powder ;  its  shouts  can  be 
heard  but  the  krifi  itself  is  said  to  be  invisible,  according  to 
one  account.  It  has  clothes  of  iron,  which  rattle  at  night ;  a 
bag  containing  hammers  and  pieces  of  iron,  a  matchet,  keys 
and  traps  for  birds  and  fish  are  also  among  the  properties 
carried. 

Aronso  is  said  to  shoot  at  animals  and  suck  their  blood 
and  fat,  so  that  they  are  tasteless  when  men  try  to  eat  them. 
In  like  manner  when  an  animal  is  offered  to  a  krifi,  its 


35 

acceptance  is  shown  by  its  falling  dead  and  people  know  the 
krifi  has  taken  it ;  the  krifi  takes  the  ankolo  (real  sheep) 
and  leaves  the  amfos  (empty  husk). 

Another  account  of  Aronson  says  that  he  is  a  thief  that 
steals  and  brings  to  his  master  ;  he  has  a  hag  with  a  rope, 
"  chisel,"  and  purse  (see  Part  III,  p.  55)  ;  if  he  is  caught 
stealing  fish  and  threatened,  he  offers  the  contents  of  his  bag  ; 
the  man  who  chooses  the  rope  always  has  cows;  the  man  who 
chooses  the  "  chisel "  digs  bush  yams ;  and  the  man  who 
chooses  the  purse  is  always  rich.  If  a  man  grabs  the  whole 
bag,  the  krifi  goes  at  night  with  his  gun,  making  a 
whistling  sound,  and  forces  the  man  to  disgorge. 

The  krifi  that  make  men  rich  must  be  paid,  or  they  burn 
a  man's  house  ;  but  if  the  man  "begs  "  them,  he  will  be  even 
richer  than  before.  The  man  himself  must  not  eat  of  the 
sheep  that  he  sacrifices  or  he  will  die ;  other  men  may  eat  of 
it.  Some  men  kill  the  sheep  under  a  big  tree,  putting  a 
stone  down  to  represent  the  krifi;  this  is  not  an  ordinary 
stone  but  one  chosen  by  a  "  four-eyed  "  man,  who  sees  the 
krifi ;  it  lives  in  the  stone. 

A  krifi  of  this  sort,  that  lives  under  a  tree,  will  be 
worried  if  a  man  takes  moss  from  the  tree  and  will  make 
the  man's  house  leaky  by  removing  the  thatch,  stalk  by 
stalk. 

According  to  another  account,  in  the  esoteric  view  the 
krifi  does  not  live  in  the  stone  but  is  the  stone.  If  this  is 
correct,  it  is  in  curious  contradiction  to  the  accounts  given 
me  in  Nigeria,  where  the  common  man  says  that  the  stone  is 
the  demi-god,  while  the  priest  says  the  stone  represents  him. 

Another  krifi  is  known  as  (Ain)Yaro  ;  he  lives  in  the 
water  and  can  be  seen  by  a  man  with  good  eyes  ;  he  makes  a 
bargain  and  agrees  to  make  a  man  rich  in  return  for  a  cow 
or  a  sheep ;  if  the  bargain  is  not  kept,  he  kills  the  man. 
Sometimes,  if  the  man  has  no  cow  or  sheep,  the  krifi  sets 
the  town  on  fire  and  reckons  that  as  his  reward  ;  some  men 
say  to  him  :  "  Burn  only  my  house."  Yaro  gives  his  son  or 
daughter  to  a  man,  who  must  follow  their  advice ;   if  the 

d  2 


36 

man  gets  another  child,  the  first  one,  which  sits  and  talks 
like  a  human  being,  but  can  be  seen  only  by  a  "  four-eyed  " 
person,  will  go  away  ;  on  no  account  should  a  man  take  a 
child  from  a  second  krifi  or  the  first  krifi  will  kill  him. 

Yaro  is  said  to  have  a  body  covered  with  shining  scales, 
which  are  sometimes  picked  up ;  on  examination  these  scales 
turned  out  to  be  flakes  of  mica. 

Another  krifi,  whose  name  is  generic  rather  than 
individual,  is  Asipromantr  (water  leopard) ;  he  kills  people 
indiscriminately,  and  not  only  those  who.  see  him.  If  he 
lives  in  a  deep  pool,  he  catches  those  who  fall  in. 

Kumpamatir  is  also  said  to  be  a  krifi  that  lives  near 
water,  though  in  point  of  fact  he  resembles  far  more  the 
krifi  of  a  society  and  conies  out  when  the  rice  is  growing  to 
drive  away  witches  who  take  the  form  of  birds  and  animals 
in  order  to  steal  the  rice.  Kumpamatir  is  said  to  be 
called  by  beating  sticks  together.  He  parades  the  town  and 
utters  a  peculiar  groan  or  growl  like  that  of  a  satisfied 
animal.  A  witch  is  said  to  fall  sick  and  moan  in  the  same 
way ;  blood  also  issues  from  his  nose  (hence  perhaps  the 
name  Kumpamatir).  Kesmatir  (catch  the  blood)  is  a 
name  used  by  the  Kagbenle  when  they  come  out  on  account 
of  the  rites. 

Although  by  the  native  it  is  reckoned  among  the  wanka 
(see  p.  60),  the  ate, ttQ t  (Plate  IX)  is  really  a  woman's  krifi, 
put  up  in  order  to  procure  children ;  but  as  it  descends  to  her 
children  and  a  woman  "  joins  "  it  like  a  secret  society,  the 
fact  that  the  krifi  is  regarded  as  the  enemy  of  thieves,  like 
the  wanka,  may  well  be  neglected  in  classifying  the  atgtto,  t. 

One  informant  told  me  that  her  mother  had  no  children 
and  was  told  by  the  diviner  to  "join  the  wanka."  She  bore 
a  daughter,  and  the  woman  who  had  initiated  her  said  the 
child  must  bear  her  name. 

When  the  child  grew  up  and  married,  her  husband  put  up 
the  hut  for  the  atQttot;  and  the  woman  put  in  the  stones 
which  represent  the  krifi,  whose  name  was  Bandu. 

In  the  hut  were  kept  four  stones  to  represent  Bandu,  and 


■       37 

sixteen  a  tun  k  a  shells  as  ambai,  kings  of  the  wanka,  who 
serve  as  messengers.  All  these  were  in  a  basin  covered  with 
cloth.  Over  the  door  were  two  fans  as  a  satka  to  keep  evil 
from  the  "  medicine  " ;  outside  was  a  pole  with  fans,  a  satka 
that  money  might  come. 

The  "  kings  "  are  said  to  decide  cases,  i.e.,  catch  thieves ; 
when  the  owner  puts  rice  mixed  with  palm  oil  on  the  stones, 
she  says  :  "  Eat,  call  for  money." 

If  a  man  enters  the  hut,  the  wanka  will  follow  him; 
whatever  he  does  will  fail  and  disgrace  him. 

This  wanka  helps  to  bring  rice,  and  the  owner  of  an 
atqttQt  begins  to  eat  new  rice  after  sacrificing ;  this  is  done 
in  March  for  six  years,  after  that  for  twelve  years  new  rice 
can  be  eaten  at  once ;  then  for  six  years  the  rites  are 
performed  in  March  ;  and  so  on,  the  time  being  reckoned  by 
the  farms. 

According  to  another  account  a  girl  joins  the  anfam 
nate,t  atot  (people  of  the  small  house)  before  her  marriage, 
and  has  medicines  rubbed  on  her  body.  In  order  to 
conceive,  a  woman  offers  a  fowl:  "My  good  krifi,  I  have 
come  to  you  to-day,  I  come  and  ask  you  to-day  to  get  me 
children  ;  I  give  you  this  fowl  for  food."  The  fowl  is  killed, 
cooked  with  rice  and  left  in  the  ate, t tot  for  a  short  time  ; 
then  the  sacrificer  eats  and  gives  to  other  members. 

In  one  atgttQt  that  I  examined  I  found  two  tortoise 
shells,  two  small  brooms,  a  mat,  a  stick,  two  whisky  bottles, 
and  a  box  containing  one  basket  and  a  few  stones  and 
cowries  in  it. 

Another  had  feathers  of  the  plantain  eater ;  sacrifice 
(?  satka)  was  offered  to  them  ;  they  seem,  therefore,  to 
represent  the  krifi. 

Leopard. — When  a  hunter  kills  a  leopard,  a  strip  of  cloth 
is  tied  round  his  waist  to  show  that  he  is  a  prisoner  ;  he  has 
killed  the  king's  cat,  which  is  masam.  When  he  reaches  the 
town  he  is  tied  with  a  strip  of  country  cloth  to  a  post  of  the 
house. 

Grass  is  tied  round  the  leopard's  head  and  the  hunter's 


38 

face  :  young  boys  cut  whips,  and  in  each  town  that  they 
pass  through  on  their  way  to  the  chief  there  is  a 
struggle  for  the  body  of  the  leopard;  if  the  bearers  are 
driven  off,  the  winners  take  possession   and  carry   in   their 

turn. 

When  they  get  in,  the  chief  rewards  them  ;  they  say, 
"We  have  brought  the  king's  meat."  Then  the  boys  run 
round  the  town  with  whips.  The  hunter  is  released  and 
looses  the  grass  from  the  leopard's  head;  when  the  body  is 
cut  up,  there  is  a  fight  for  the  meat,  which  is  not  shared  out 
in  the  ordinary  way. 

In  some  places,  when  a  leopard  is  killed,  all  the  people  m 
the  town  beat  themselves  with  banana  leaves,  because  the 
leopard  is  a  warrior.  It  is  said  that  formerly  when  a  warrior 
died  there  was  swordplay  at  the  funeral. 

The  head  and  skin  of  the  leopard  go  to  the  chief. 
A  paramount  chief  is  called  "  leopard,"  and  a  leopard  is 
one  of  the  totems  of  the  Bangura,  Sise,  and  Kuruma  clans. 

Hunters'  Traps.— A  hunter  who  wishes  to  make  a  trap 
prepares  by  getting  akent  and  piassava  and  puts  them  on 
the  rubbish  heap  for  a  night ;  in  the  morning  he  breaks 
cassava  and  okro  leaves  and  puts  with  them  ground  nut 
plants,  alligator  pepper,  chewed  spices  and  camwood,  saying 
"  When  I  set  a  trap,  let  it  kill  many  animals." 

Okro  and  cassava  are  put  in  a  big  pot,  the  piassava  coiled 
in  it  and  water  poured  on  and  brought  to  the  boil  The 
hunter  must  not  sit  down  but  walk  round  the  fire  so  that  the 
animals  may  be  afoot  when  he  sets  his  net. 

Then  the  piassava  is  put  on  the  rubbish  heap  again  and 
sticks    a    finger   thick   prepared:    finally   the    piassava    is 

twisted.  , 

Any  animal  caught  with  the  trap  is  skinned  on  the  rubbish 
heap  and  the  water  used  to  wash  it  is  thrown  there  with  the 
blood  ;  "  we  put  the  rope  here,  we   come   and  give   you   a 

present." 

Susu.-The  name  by  which  the  krifi  are  known  is  yina ; 
bad  yina  live  in  the  big  cotton  trees,  good  yina  are  under 


Plate  A' 


KORANKO  IMAGE.     See  page  39. 


MASKERS  AT  MAK A:    ARON  ATOMA:    NK.MAXKKKA.      See  paffe  148. 


39 

stones  ;  they  receive  a  sacrifice  of  rice  bread  and  kola  ;  every 
five  years  in  October  a  sheep  is  offered.  The  good  yina  give 
children,  rice,  etc. 

A  yin  comes  with  a  strong  wind  and  can  knock  a  man 
down.  Only  certain  people  can  see  them  ;  a  man  who  sees  a 
bad  yin  goes  mad  or  falls  sick  :  they  walk  in  the  big  bush  at 
midday.  They  can  paralyse  a  man  or  make  him  dumb ;  a 
woman  who  dreams  of  bad  yina  becomes  sterile  ;  a  yin  sets 
fire  to  a  house  sometimes. 

To  keep  away  the  bad  yina,  the  Koran  is  washed  and  the 
water  poured  on  sand,  which  is  scattered  round  the  town. 

A  child  born  with  teeth  is  a  yin ;  it  is  carried  to  the  river 
and  put  in;  if  it  is  a  yin,  it  goes  down  the  river  in  about 
half  an  hour ;  if  not,  it  is  a  human  child,  which  is  buried  in 
the  river  if  it  dies.     A  child  with  a  long  head  is  also  a  yin. 

Koranko. — Carved  stone  images  (Plate  V)  or  heads  are  not 
uncommon  in  tins  area ;  and  they  seem  to  be  regarded  with 
veneration.  At  Yarawaya  is  a  carved  female  head  with 
closed  eyes,  standing  perhaps  some  six  inches  high. 

It  is  said  that  twins  have  spirits  behind  them  and  there- 
fore they  may  not  be  with  people  who  are  reaping  or  thresh- 
ing rice.  One  bunch  should  be  cut  and  put  on  the  road 
leading  to  the  town :  the  twin  takes  this  and  says :  "  I  have 
taken  ours ;  those  who  are  behind  me  don't  take  from  the 
farm  "  ;  then  the  crop  is  safe. 

Witches  appear  to  be  less  feared  in  the  farm  than  malicious 
spirits.  Three  balls  of  rice  bread  are  made  after  reaping  ; 
one  is  put  where  the  rice  will  be  heaped,  one  on  the  road  to 
the  town,  and  one  on  a  heap  of  sand ;  these  are  for  the 
krifi.  Straw  and  pepper  are  burnt  on  the  road  on  the  day 
on  which  they  thresh  the  rice. 

Yalunka.— The  word  used  for  krifi  is  n'inena. 

Loko. — The  word  for  krifi  is  ns;ofo. 

Limba. — There  are  various  names  for  God — Kanu  (Safroko 
Limba),  Masala  ( Sella),  Masaranka  (Tohko) ;  but  no  informa- 
tion was  obtained  to  show  the  precise  position  of  this  deity. 
Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  Limbas  are  said  to  be  pagan,  and  it 


40 

is  significant  that  the  different  names  mentioned  above  are  in 
use. 

Various  wali  are  known.  Sokoso  shoots  people  behind 
the  shoulder,  like  Aronson,  and  to  cure  the  resulting  craw- 
craw  a  leech  must  take  the  shot  out.  TintryomQ  is  very  long, 
with  a  head  like  a  duck  and  bells  at  the  end  of  its  tail ;  its 
scales  are  mica.  Either  this  wali  catches  a  man,  or  the 
man  catches  him,  according  to  which  has  the  better  eyes ;  and 
its  captor  becomes  rich. 

Stones  are  kept  in  boxes  and  people  cook  for  them ;  they 
say  they  take  them  that  they  may  get  good  crops.  When- 
ever they  see  a  nice-looking  stone,  they  take  it.  None  of 
these  stones  were  shown  to  me  ;  but  if  the  account  is  correct, 
we  have  here  a  practice  not  very  remote  from  that  which  is 
commonly  called  fetishism. 

One  way  of  procuring  rain  is  to  throw  water  on  a  wali. 

Only  witches  can  appear  as  ghosts ;  if  others  appear  it  is 
"  only  a  dream  "  ;  they  come  to  ask  for  sacrifice.  They  live  in 
kat'iQ,  which  must  be  in  the  ground,  for  the  bodies  are  put 
there. 


Plate  VI. 


SACRIFICE   (MAT)    FOE    HEALTH. 


SACRIFICE   FOE    GOOD   SLEEP. 


41 


V.— CULT  OF  THE  DEAD 

In  dealing  with  the  subject  of  the  krifi  (p.  33)  it  was 
mentioned  that  there  was  no  clear  line  of  demarcation 
between  the  non-human  and  the  human  spirit.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  there  has  been  a  certain  amount  of  transference 
from  one  category  to  another ;  thus,  we  have  seen  that  the 
tambara  antQf  (p.  34)  live  in  big  trees  ;  at  Makuta  a  heap 
of  stones  under  a  cotton  tree  was  known  as  masar  ma 
ambaki  (the  stones  of  the  old  people),  and  sacrifices  were 
offered  there.  This  is  allied  to  the  cult  of  ancestors  by 
the  name  ambaki,  and  we  may  suspect  genetic  relations. 
Possibly  as  the  site  of  the  town  has  been  changed,  a  new 
boromasar  was  founded,  so  that  two  existed,  one  old,  the 
other  new,  until  the  nature  of  the  old  one  was  forgotten. 

The  ritual  of  ancestor-worship  differs  slightly  in  various 
places,  but  the  variations  are  unimportant.  A  small  hut  is 
to  be  seen  near  the  outskirts  of  most  villages,  in  which  are 
collected  a  number  of  stones  and  occasionally  other  objects  ; 
these  stones  represent  the  dead  people  of  the  village,  and  one 
is  added  at  each  death  (of  an  "  old  man  "  ).  In  some  cases 
men  and  women  are  represented  in  the  boromasar,  in  others 
the  women  have  their  own  place  ;  commonly,  however,  it  is 
said  that  a  woman  has  no  town,  only  a  country  ;  for  where 
she  marries,  there  is  her  home. 

In  sacrificing  to  these  ancestors,  which  is  clone  about 
hoeing  time,  it  is  usual  in  some  places  to  announce  on  the 
eve  of  the  sacrifice,  "  We  will  give  you  rice  in  the  morning ;  " 
the  cooking  is  done  in  the  open  space  about  7.0  a.m.,  and  the 
head  man  takes  a  handful  from  each  pot  or  basin  and  puts 
on  the  stones.  This  is  the  only  regular  sacrifice,  but  a 
diviner  may  order  one  at  another  time. 


42 

Elsewhere  a  sheep  is  sacrificed  by  a  moriman;  all  gather 
and  lay  their  hands  on  it ;  the  sheep  is  cooked  for  all  together 
and  not  shared  out,  but  eaten  from  one  common  pot  with  rice 
and  palm  oil ;  rice,  palm  oil,  and  the  liver  are  offered  on  the 
stones.     Both  men  and  women  take  part  in  the  meal. 

Fur  the  worship  of  parents  the  ritual  is  equally  simple ; 
stones  represent  the  dead,  and  an  old  man  is  called  to  bgrnpa 
with  fowl  and  rice.  <:  I  want  you  to  give  my  father  food 
from  that  stone  ;  he  gets  food  from  that  stone ;  so  that  we 
may  live  well." 

It  is  also  possible  to  call  old  people  together,  who  touch 
the  bread  and  pray  for  long  life  for  the  sacrifice!" ;  some  of 
the  bread  is  given  to  the  children ;  the  portion  offered  is  put 
in  the  middle  of  the  yard,  not  on  the  grave,  which  is  usually 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  frecpuently  marked  with  a 
stone. 

When  a  fowl  as  well  as  rice  is  to  be  offered,  an  old  man 
goes  10  the  grave  and  is  told  that  the  son  wishes  to  sacrifice, 
and  that  if  the  fowl  eats,  it  is  a  sign  that  the  ancestor  will 
accept  it.  The  fowl's  throat  is  cut,  and  the  wife  cooks  rice 
and  fowl ;  a  cup  has  been  placed  on  the  grave  and  this  is 
filled  with  rice ;  a  portion  of  fowl  is  also  given ;  the  old 
man  eats  with  the  sou  ;  he  may  not  receive  any  payment :  it 
is  masam  ;  at  most  he  may  get  a  head  of  tobacco.  He  talks 
to  the  dead  ancestor  and  the  latter  then  asks  blessings  for  the 
saerificer. 

In  Mohammedan  areas  the  sacrifice  is  on  a  Friday  ;  and 
sons  and  daughters  take  it  in  turns  to  provide  and  cook,  but 
it  is  always  the  eldest  son  who  offers.  It  is  obligatory  on 
the  children  to  attend.  The  usual  date  for  the  sacrifice  is 
September  or  October  ;  in  March  a  sacrifice  may  be  offered 
to  a  brother  or  sister. 

A  mother  hands  on  her  stone  to  her  eldest  daughter,  who 
takes  it  to  her  husband's  house  ;  her  brother  is  informed  and 
gives  a  fowl  to  bginpa.  Other  daughters  visit  the  eldest 
daughter  at  the  time  of  sacrifice  ;  and  at  the  death  of  the 
eldest    the   second  daughter    takes  her  place.      The  second 


i'l.ATE    VII. 


:'f 


<»•  m\  *oi 


SACRIFICE  IX  BROKEN  CALABASH    FOE  "  BAD  DEAD."      See  pages  43,  56. 


SACRIFICE    AT    ENTRANCE   TO    FARM.      Sec  page 


43 

daughter  may,  however,  get  a  stone  of  her  own  ;  in  that  case 
fowls  and  rice  must  be  offered  to  both  stones,  and  a  state- 
ment made  to  the  ancestor.  Alternatively  the  second 
daughter  may  get  the  krifi  of  her  father'  s  mother,  for  all 
married  women  have  one  of  some  sort.  There  is  some  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  senior  in  the  family  takes  charge  of  the 
important  krifi,  that  is  to  say,  that  if  a  woman  has  sisters 
and  daughters,  her  sisters  take  precedence  in  the  matter. 

In  Mohammedan  areas  they  sacrifice  to  the  mother  on  the 
Monday  following  the  sacrifice  to  the  father.  Both  sacrifices 
must  be  offered  or  the  dead  people  will  "  take "  the 
defaulters. 

A  man  who  is  a  stranger  in  a  town  cannot  offer  tu  his 
parents  who  died  far  away,  for  the  dead  people  of  the  town 
would  take  all  his  offering ;  hence  he  goes  outside  ;  the  dead 
will  just  take  their  bread  and  go ;  after  this  he  need  not  fear 
that  they  will  humbug  him. 

If,  however,  they  have  annoyed  him,  he  takes  a  broken 
calabash,  a  stone,  and  some  dirty  rice  with  pepper  in  it,  as  a 
fitting  offering;  he  tells  his  relatives  that  they  are  bad,  and 
therefore  get  bad  things  :  "  you  don't  want  good  for  me,  and 
I  don't  want  good  for  you." 

It  is,  however,  not  only  dead  relatives,  but  dead  men  in 
general,  that  may  trouble  the  living  ;  if  a  man  finds  himself 
annoyed  in  this  way,  he  takes  a  stone  and  lays  his  hands  on 
it  before  giving  it  to  the  dead  man.  Outside  some  villages  it 
is  possible  to  see  a  broken  calabash  (Plate  VII)  or  pot  lying 
on  a  stone  as  an  offering  to  the  dead  to  prevent  them  from 
following  people  home.  Or  a  traveller  may  take  some  leaves 
and  put  a  stone  on  the  top  in  the  path,  that  bad  "ghosts  " 
may  not  come  after  him,  and  make  his  journey  unsuccessful. 

If  a  man  sneezes  during  a  meal,  he  says  the  dead  people 
are  begging,  and  takes  food  in  his  right  hand  ;  this  he  throws 
on  the  ground  with  his  hand  behind  him,  and  says : 
''  Xambaki,  kolini  ananu  "  (old  people,  here  is  yours). 

Mohammedan  teaching  has  naturally  had  great  influence 
on  beliefs  with  regard  to   a  future   life.     Whether  for  this 


44 

reason  or  some  other,  no  trace  of  any  belief  as  to  reincarna- 
tion is  to  be  found,  though  this  is  a  normal  feature  of  negro 
eschatology,  either  in  the  form  of  the  reappearance  of  a  dead 
person  who  is  recognisable  in  one  of  his  descendants  or 
connexions,  or  in  some  vaguer  form. 

At  the  present  day  it  is  commonly  stated  that  at  death  a 
bad  man  goes  to  Yehenama  (Yehanum) ;  and  among  bad  men 
are  included  greedy  men,  robbers,  liars,  slanderers,  the 
envious,  those  who  do  not  want  to  help  anyone,  those  who 
always  "  think  bad  about  God,"  obstinate  debtors  and  those 
who  refuse  to  lend  money.  They  will  remain  in  Yehenama 
for  an  uncertain  length  of  time,  but  eventually  receive 
forgiveness ;  others  think  they  may  stay  there  for  ever ;  at 
any  rate  they  will  not  die  again. 

Heaven  is  a  "  clean "  place  where  there  is  neither  work 
nor  sleep  nor  sun  nor  darkness ;  whatever  a  man  wants,  he 
finds  it  at  hand. 

A  less  sophisticated  conception  was  that  Eokrifi  (the  place 
of  the  dead)  was  in  the  air  but  not  with  God  ;  when  a  man 
died  God  put  "  a  little  darkness "  between  living  and 
dead. 

A  belief  in  apparitions  is  found,  but  holds  but  an  unimpor- 
tant place  in  native  ideas,  as  does  also  the  belief  in  dreams 
(see  p.  86).  On  several  occasions  stories  were  told  of 
people  who  were  seen  some  years  after  death  ;  in  one  case  a 
woman  said  she  was  weeding  in  a  farm  and  saw  the  figure  of 
a  woman  known  to  her  who  had  died  two  years  before  ;  the 
apparition  raised  its  head  and  vanished  as  soon  as  it  saw  the 
woman  looking. 

In  another  case  a  dead  man  was  said  to  have  been  seen 
washing  in  the  river  close  to  where  his  body  had  been  laid 
by  the  bearers  during  a  brief  halt.  Another  informant  pro- 
fessed to  have  seen  a  dead  man  in  his  grave  trappings. 

One  informant  told  me  of  a  case  in  which  a  dead  man  is 
said  to  have  communicated  knowledge  of  the  position  of 
some  cutlasses  to  his  brother.  The  dead  man  had  hidden  all 
his  cutlasses  and  his  axe  behind  a  large  stone  in  the  field  and 


45 

told  no  one;  he  was  killed  in  the  war  and  the  night  after  his 
death  had  been  announced,  when  they  were  lamenting  his 
death,  his  brother  saw  him  in  a  dream  and  was  shown  where 
the  cutlasses  were  hidden. 

It  is  firmly  believed  that  some  people  die  and  reappear  at 
a  place  some  distance  away,  where  they  live  a  normal  life, 
but  vanish  if  any  of  their  original  friends  approach  them. 
Their  eyes  are  said  to  be  turned  back.  This  living  again  is 
called  falah. 


46 


VL_WITCHCRAFT. 

Witchcraft  appears  to  occupy  an  important  place  in  native 
beliefs;  the  witch  is  said  to  have  power  to  take  rice  or 
transfer  it  from  one  farm  to  another  ;  hence  all  sorts  of  rites 
are  performed  to  exclude  them  from  the  farms ;  these 
ceremonies  are  known  as  e,kap  in  Sanda,  akanta  (see  p.  60) 
in  S.  Timne.  The  witch  is  also  believed  to  eat  human  beings, 
who  go  on  living  and  breathing  till  the  heart  is  reached  ;  then 
they  die.     This  killing  is  said  to  be  done  with  the  eyes  only. 

Side  by  side  with  this  belief  is  found  the  more  ordinary 
creed  which  attributes  to  the  witch  power  of  transformation, 
into  a  bat  or  crocodile  ;  if  the  animal  perishes,  the  witch  meets 
the  same  fate. 

A  witch  is  said  to  be  born,  not  made,  and  to  derive  power 
from  the  mother,  because  the  mother  eats  a  person  and  the 
unborn  child  absorbs  some  of  the  cannibal  feast.  A  witch 
has  akonto  inside  him  ;  this  is  like  the  stomach  of  a  small 
animal,  round  in  shape,  with  many  holes  in  it. 

"Medicines"  and  ordeals  are  used  to  catch  suspected 
witches ;  in  the  former  case  the  guilty  person  falls  sick  and 
confesses ;  in  this  case  water  may  be  poured  on  the 
"  medicine "  to  free  the  witch  from  its  influence.  Some 
people  say,  however,  that  confession  will  not  save  a  witch. 

If  a  person  is  bewitched  but  does  not  die,  he  "  swears  " 
and  the  witch  dies ;  in  this  case  a  ceremony  must  be 
performed  and  if  it  is  not  completed,  a  stone  with  thread 
round  it,  and  a  piece  of  cloth,  must  be  put  in  a  tree,  and  the 
name  of  the  witch  repeated  :  "  You  cannot  move  again  to 
injure  me."  This  ceremony  is  apparently  performed  after 
the  death  of  witches,  to  prevent  them  from  continuing  their 
activities  after  death.  Another  method  is  to  rub  leaves  on 
people  that  the  dead  witch  may  not  follow  them  and  cause 


47 

them   to  fall  sick;  the   same  medicine  is  sprinkled   on   the 
farms. 

Some  witches  offer  to  krifi,  that  the  medicine  may  not 
catch  them,  but  now  people  "swear  krifi  on  the  medicine," 
i.e.,  tell  the  medicine  to  catch  the  krifi,  for  it  is  stronger 
than  the  krifi,  then  the  krifi  takes  his  medicine  and  throws 
it  on  the  witch,  who  will  die  even  in  spite  of  confession. 
Just  as  in  Europe  in  the  seventeenth  century,  it  appears  to  be 
exceedingly  common  for  witches  to  confess  to  killing  people, 
spoiling  farms  and  other  crimes.  For  obvious  reasons,  however, 
unless  such  a  confession  is  made  under  circumstances  that 
permit  of  cross-examination — and  this  would  be  altogether 
exceptional — -it  is  impossible  to  discover  how  far  the  witch 
is  self -deceived. 

When  an  "  oath  medicine  "  was  to  be  used,  kola,  salt,  etc., 
in  fact  all  things  that  they  eat,  were  put  in  a  cooking  pot' 
near  the  "  medicine  " ;  a  fowl  was  also  brought  and  beaten 
till  it  died,  all  present  repeating, "  If  I  am  a  witch,  let  me  die." 
After  this  the  witch  would  fall  sick  if  he  ate  fowl.  The 
killing  of  the  fowl  was  not  regarded  as  a  satka;  but  all  had 
to  partake  of  it,  hence  the  ceremony  is  from  one  point  of  view 
rather  an  ordeal  than  a  trial  by  "  medicine."  When  the  witch 
confessed,  the  "medicine"  was  brought  and  the  "oath" 
removed.  The  house  of  the  person  who  had  been  bewitched 
was  put  in  charge  of  the  repentant  witch,  who  was  supposed 
to  keep  other  witches  at  bay. 

Another  ceremony  was  to  load  a  gun  and  put  it  down 
with  the  "  medicine."  After  all  had  "  sworn "  on  the 
medicine,  i.e.  cursed  themselves  if  they  were  guilty,  the  head 
man  of  the  house  fired  the  gun  at  the  medicine  and  thus  the 
witch  would  be  detected  quickly. 

Another  method  of  detecting  a  witch  was  to  drop  a 
decoction  of  ambare  bark  in  a  fowl's  eyes,  saying:  "  If  he 
is  a  witch,  let  him  become  blind."  This  method  is  obviously 
closely  related  to  the  one  mentioned  above,  but  in  the 
present  case  the  fowl  seems  to  be  taken  as  the  representative 
of  the  witch.    If  that  is  also  the  case  where  the  fowl  is  beaten 


48 

to  death,  the  subsequent  ritual  eating  must  be  an  intrusive 
element,  due  to  the  resemblance  of  the  rite  to  a  piacular 
sacrifice. 

For  the  ordeal  some  decoction  is  commonly  drunk  ;  this 
may  be  of  akon  bark,  beaten  and  shaken  till  it  froths.  A 
platform  is  made,  and  the  accused,  with  palm  leaves  tied 
round  the  waist,  mounts  it ;  rice,  known  as  abonp  (=  gold) 
is  half  cooked  and  must  be  swallowed  without  chewing ; 
then  the  accuser  recites  the  crimes  attributed  to  the  person 
undergoing  the  ordeal,  saying :  "  If  it  is  not  so,  let  us  find 
out ;  when  you  drink,  vomit,  if  you  are  not  a  member."  The 
accused  person  drinks  six  calabashes  of  the  decoction  and 
swells  up,  if  he  is  guilty. 

Another  account  said  the  accuser  was  known  as  ukapepe, 
and  that  he  drank  as  well  as  the  supposed  witch,  each  taking 
it  in  turn,  till  all  was  finished. 

An  innocent  person  was  taken  to  the  water-side  and 
washed.  It  was  laid  down  that  for  a  man  who  came  from 
the  west  a  platform  had  to  be  made  on  the  east  road,  and  for 
a  man  who  came  from  the  east,  on  the  west  road ;  an  accused 
usually  demanded  to  be  put  to  the  proof. 

Another  ordeal  involved  the  use  of  a  bare  bark  which 
was  scraped  and  put  in  a  leaf  funnel.  Accused  and  accusers 
were  shut  up  in  the  house  and  all  concerned  had  to  practise 
continence. 

In  the  morning  the  accuser  spoke  out  behind  the  house, 
and  the  decoction  was  trickled  into  the  eye  of  the  witch, 
causing  him  to  become  blind ;  it  was  also  dropped  on  the  tips 
of  the  fingers,  and  the  joints.  After  being  shut  up  in  the 
house  the  witch  cried  out  and  confessed ;  an  antidote  was 
dropped  in  the  eye  and  the  sight  restored. 

Even  if  twenty  people  were  under  trial,  one  and  the  same 
funnel  had  to  be  used  for  all. 

An  innocent  man  received  one  head  of  money,  £4,  as 
compensation,  together  with  "  expenses."  The  guilty  person 
had  to  pay  compensation  for  any  person  he  had  killed,  either 
by  money  payment  or  transfer  of  property. 


49 

It  is  said  that  long  ago  witches  were  burnt,  or  tied  up  and 
thrown  into  the  water.  A  witch  is  buried  naked,  and  the 
body  may  be  given  to  the  owner  of  the  medicine  that  killed 
him  or  her.  Other  people  dig  the  grave  and  go  away.  If  a 
cloth  were  used,  the  witch  might  return  and  trouble  the 
family.  It  is  always  said  that  ordinary  people  do  not 
return  though  witches  do. 

A  witch  is  tied  on  a  stick  for  burial  and  carried  like  an 
animal.  Some  people  divine  with  a  pestle  on  which  hair  and 
nails  are  tied  ;  others  use  the  dead  body  itself.  When  the 
bearers  have  hoisted  it  on  their  shoulders,  they  say  :  "  As 
you  were  living,  what  you  said,  is  it  true  ?"  That  is  to  say, 
they  ask  if  the  confession  made  in  the  man's  life-time  was 
true.  If  the  dead  man  was  not  a  witch,  the  body  swings 
from  side  to  side  ;  if  he  was  a  witch,  the  bearers  go  and 
knock  against  some  person  ;  but  this  does  not  mean  that  the 
person  in  question  was  in  any  way  implicated. 

Sometimes  more  elaborate  methods  are  employed  ;  sticks 
are  cut  and  made  like  a  bier,  and  toe  and  finger  nails  and 
hair  are  tied  on  them  wrapped  in  a  mat,  doubtless  to  represent 
the  body,  with  a  white  cloth  on  the  top  ;  the  bearers  dress  in 
white  and  carry  e,tap  in  their  hands;  one  has  a  sword. 
They  say,  "  Let  her  go  out,"  and  shake  the  leaves  they  are 
carrying.  Ashes  are  put  in  a  circle  round  them  with  a  fire- 
stick  in  the  middle  ;  if  the  leader,  when  the  bearers  begin  to 
march,  steps  clean  out  of  the  circle  with  his  first  foot,  the 
dead  woman  is  acquitted;  "  she  died  of  good"  ;  otherwise  she 
is  pronounced  a  witch. 

Then  they  halt  and  say,  "  Go  and  compliment  the  old 
people  " ;  when  they  reach  Rokambana,  they  halt,  and  also 
leave  the  bier  against  the  blacksmith's  forge,  for  if  the 
woman  were  a  witch,  she  could  not  go  there.  Then  the  old 
men  asked  :  "  Was  it  your  oil  that  went  in  your  eyes  ? " 
(i.e.,  did  your  wickedness  kill  you  ?)  If  she  was  a  witch,  the 
bier  will  run  with  the  people  and  strike  against  some  one  of 
those  who  asked  the  question.  If  she  was  not  a  witch,  the 
bearers'  heads  will  move  and  one  of  them  will  say  she  was 

E 


50 

uot  a  witch.  A  second  time  they  ask,  "'  Is  it  God  alone  that 
took  you?"  The  bier  will  take  the  bearers  witli  it  and 
strike  the  questioner,  who  will  pronounce  the  woman  a 
witch.  Then  the  "  big  people  "  tell  her  to  show  who  is  to 
take  care  of  her  children,  and  she  designates  someone  by 
means  of  the  bier. 

A  stone  is  often  seen  in  the  fork  of  a  tree  close  to  a 
village  ;  this  is  said  in  some  places  to  be  a  satka  for  witches, 
probably  to  prevent  them  from  entering  the  village.  Near  a 
circumcision  bush  such  a  stone  is  a  satka  for  the  boys. 

This  stone  is  sometimes  wrapped  with  thread  and  then  in 
a  piece  of  cloth.  It  is  put  up  by  a  person  who  has  been 
bewitched  without  being  killed  and  has  then  killed  the 
witch  with  "  medicine."  A  ceremony,  of  which  I  got  no 
details,  has  to  be  performed  if  a  man  is  thus  killed  ;  if  the 
ceremony  is  not  performed,  the  stone  is  put  in  the  fork  of 
the  tree  with  the  words  :  "  You  cannot  move  again  to  injure 
me." 

Possibly  the  ceremony  referred  to  was  to  try  the  witch 
naked,  as  the  protection  conferred  by  the  rite  just  described 
would  not  be  required  if  the  witch  were  then  buried. 

Susu. — Witches  (kweremexi)  are  born,  not  initiated; 
they  put  inside  a  man's  house  "  medicine  "  in  a  pot,  consisting 
of  rice,  ground  nut,  sesame  and  fundi,  which  is  buried  inside 
the  door  and  causes  him  to  get  bad  crops. 

A  witch  can  live  in  a  crocodile  or  leopard  and  seize  people  ; 
four  or  five  go  into  one  animal  and  if  the  animal  is  shot,  they 
die  too. 

Morimen  make  medicines  (karafili)  against  witches  and 
put  them  in  horns.  A  "  prayer  board  "  may  be  washed,  and 
if  the  water  is  mixed  with  the  rice,  a  witch  who  eats  of  it 
will  swell  up  and  die. 

An  ordeal  for  testing  witches  was  for  them  to  drink  a 
decoction  of  meli.  A  guilty  person  might  be  burnt;  an 
innocent  man  received  the  property  of  his  accuser  and  all 
members  of  his  family  as  slaves. 

A  rope  was  tied  to  the  foot  of  a  dead  witch  and  the  body 


51 

was  dragged  to  the  field  to  be  eaten  by  birds.  If  the  corpse 
was  buried,  no  sticks  were  put  over  it  and  the  ground  was 
beaten  hard. 

Limba. — Witches  (bawgti)  "  kill  "  men  when  they  sleep  ; 
when  they  wake,  they  say  they  are  "  killed."  A  witch  takes 
off  witchcraft  like  a  gown. 

A  witch  is  buried  in  banana  leaves  and  thorns  above 
and  below  so  that  he  cannot  come  again  as  momQpila 
(ghost),  which  wears  a  white  gown  and  stands  in  the  door 
without  being  seen.  All  people  wake  at  once  and  tremble 
and  feel  cold,  any  rice  that  is  being  cooked  stops  boiling,  all 
fires  go  out.  A  hole  is  found  in  the  grave  of  a  mQinQpila 
out  of  which  it  comes ;  a  diviner  watches  for  it  and  shoots 
it ;  he  alone  can  see  it  but  other  people  see  blood. 

To  see  if  a  person  is  a  witch  bare  is  put  in  his  eye,  which 
bursts  if  he  is  guilty.  A  witch  would  not  be  sold  by  his  own 
family,  but  only  compelled  to  work. 

"Witches  are  born  or  can  buy  their  powers  ;  they  turn  into 
animals  at  night. 

Karn^ti  (Limba,  Qingti)  is  brazed  and  scattered  over  a 
farm,  as  if  it  wTere  seed,  to  keep  witches  away.  Iron  slag 
(nagara)  is  all  efficacious. 


e  2 


Dl 


VII— SATKA,    WANK  A,  etc. 

SATKA   (OFFERING.) 

Under  the  name  of  satka  are  known  a  variety  of  rites, 
some  involving  the  actual  killing  of  an  animal,  others  the 
letting  it  go  as  a  scapegoat  or  keeping  it  in  the  yard  as  a 
sacrosanct  animal ;  in  others  vegetable  oblations  are  made ; 
others  again  consist  in  the  blessing  and  gift  of  clothes,  or  in 
a  similar  ritual  followed  by  the  wearing  of  them  by  the 
sacrificer,  who  is  also  the  officiant.  In  other  cases  the 
offering  is  simply  exposed,  or  brought  in  contact  with  some 
object  with  "  virtue "  in  it ;  and  in  yet  others,  protective 
against  witches,  there  is  no  offering  at  all,  the  charm  being 
put  down  in  the  farm  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  in 
ordinary  magical  rites,  save  that  the  name  of  God — 
Kurumasaba — is  called  on.  Finally  there  are  ceremonies 
known  as  satka  which,  if  we  had  no  information  about  them 
beyond  a  simple  description,  would  be  regarded  as  rites  of 
sympathetic  or  mimetic  magic. 

The  sympathetic  rites  are  comparatively  few  and  hardly 
typical ;  thus  we  find  bread  rubbed  on  a  cutlass  before 
farming  operations,  so  that  children  may  not  wound 
themselves ;  a  gown  which  a  man  has  worn  is  put  upon  an 
anthill  after  a  satka  to  secure  good  health  for  him. 

The  mimetic  rites,  on  the  other  hand,  are  a  large  and 
important  body  of  ceremonies,  which  have,  we  may  suppose, 
been  drawn  into  the  satka  complex  under  Mohammedan 
influence,  which  naturally  desired  to  control  as  far  as  possible 
heathen  ritual,  while  on  the  other  hand  Mohammedan  rites 
were  doubtless  regarded  as  very  efficacious  even  by  those 
who  professed  heathenism  ;  finally  the  half-converted  heathen 


53 

would  naturally  make   such  heathen    rites    as    he    retained 
conform  to  the  Mohammedan  form. 

Chief  among  mimetic  rites  may  be  mentioned  the  custom 
of  hanging  up  a  fan  which  swings  in  the  breeze  and  is 
believed  to  be  efficacious  in  blowing  away  evil  influences. 
Water  is  brought  and  burning  grass  from  each  house  is 
quenched,  in  order  that  fire  may  not  break  out.  Iron  is 
buried  under  the  threshold  in  order  that  what  is  said  by  the 
household  may  be  weighty.  Hooked  sticks  are  fastened  one 
in  another  in  order  that  unity  may  prevail.  Under  this  head, 
too,  may  possibly  be  classed  the  various  obstacles  (Plate  YII) 
which  are  put  at  the  entrance  to  a  farm  or  under  the  threshold 
of  a  house  to  keep  away  witches,  bad  krifi,  and  evil-disposed 
persons  and  influences  ;  or  the  similar  rites  intended  to  keep 
people  from  leaving  a  town  or  a  house.  Outside  a  towm  is 
often  seen  a  faggot  of  a  hundred  haulms  of  elephant  grass 
tied  in  a  bundle  with  red  cloth  ;  this  is  sacrificed  that 
danger  may  not  come ;  but  the  explanation  is  not  clear. 

In  the  farm  "  small  things,"  such  as  rice  husks  and  other 
rubbish,  are  put  in  a  fish  trap  and  hung  high  up,  that  the 
rice  may  stand  high.  A  pot  may  be  broken  as  a  sacrifice  for 
the  house,  that  bad  people  may  be  "  broken  "  in  like  manner. 
A  blacksmith  may  make  a  straight  knife  for  a  sacrificer,  that 
work  and  all  other  things  may  be  "  straight."  A  broom  may 
be  hung  over  the  door  that  the  house  may  be  "  clean  "  and  no 
bad  sickness  come  in  it. 

In  all  these  cases  perhaps  there  is  at  least  a  semblance  of 
a  sacrifice  or  offering;  but  in  the  satka  against  snakes  a 
piece  of  bush  rope  is  dragged  along  the  ground  and  beaten  by 
children  or  cut  to  pieces  by  a  man ;  the  oral  rite  accompanies 
it,  but  there  is  no  touching  of  hands. 

In  a  typical  satka  the  victim  or  object  lies  upon  the 
ground  and  all  participants  put  their  hands  upon  it,  or,  if 
they  cannot  get  near,  stretch  their  hands  towards  it,  praying 
audibly  for  the  blessing  for  which  the  "  sacrifice "  is 
offered.  The  sacrificer  himself  may  of  course  be  the  sole 
participant. 


54 

The  term  "sacrifice"  as  a  translation  for  satka  (Arabic 
(djjus)  ^s  an  obvious  misnomer.  It  is  of  the  essence 
of  a  sacrifice  that  something  should  be  consumed,  and  this 
element  is  far  from  being  present  in  all  satka — in  fact, 
some  of  the  rites  consist,  not  in  offering  or  consuming  the 
object,  but  in  retaining  it  and  using  it — e.g.,  a  cap,  in  the 
ordinary  way. 

One  singular  rite  deserves  special  mention,  as  it  differs 
widely  from  the  ordinary  satka,  and  we  seem  to  be  coming 
near  a  visible  representation  of  the  recipient  of  the  satka, 
though,  singularly  enough,  nothing  is  offered,  and  a  living 
man,  though  not  the  sacrificer  himself,  is  represented. 

A  short  pole  is  hung  on  a  tree  by  a  cord  and  beaten  every 
morning  with  ekati ;  it  represents  the  son  of  the  sacrificer 
when  he  has  gone  to  Freetown  or  elsewhere  to  work.  The 
father  addresses  it,  saying :  "  If  my  son  does  not  sit  on  a 
stick  in  the  place  where  he  is,  let  him  not  return  ;  if  he  sits 
on  a  stick,  let  him  return."  As  people  everywhere  sit  down, 
this  is  equivalent  to  a  prayer  for  his  return.  The  object  of 
the  beating  with  ekati  was  not  known. 

Here  only  the  oral  rite  remained,  and  the  ceremony  could 
not  even  be  called  an  offering.  In  the  ordinary  satka  also 
the  oral  rite  is  probably  far  more  important  than  the  manual 
rite,  and  the  following  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the 
form  used  ;  it  is  employed  at  the  crowning  of  a  chief :  "  I 
have  come  this  morning  to  sacrifice,  as  I  have  been  crowned  ; 
may  God  send  me  good  strangers  ;  may  I  be  able  to  make 
my  people  fear,  so  that  there  may  be  no  crime  in  the 
country ;  my  people  must  get  good  crops  and  their  children 
live  long  ;  if  any  witch  wants  to  '  spoil'  my  crown,  may  he 
die  soon,  so  that  I  may  not  see  a  man  who  disobeys  me,  and 
that  all  my  old  ancestors  may  stand  behind  me ;  that  I  may 
rule  well  and  have  no  trouble.  1  hope  I  may  not  be  dis- 
graced in  any  place.     That  is  all." 

In  the  oral  rite  we  have,  in  fact,  the  sole  element  of  unity 
in  the  heterogeneous  satka  rites.  They  cannot  then  be 
adequately  classified  either  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 


55 

form  of  the  manual  rite  nor  of  the  ohject  to  be  attained,  save 
in  the  most  general  way.  It  may,  however,  be  observed 
that,  though  these  objects  may  be  positive,  such  as  causing  a 
person  in  the  house  to  be  of  weight  in  the  councils  of  the 
community,  the  aim  is  far  more  often  the  averting  of  evil, 
such  as  a  violent  death,  injury  to  the  crops,  damage  by  fire, 
and  so  on.  It  is  clear  that  many  sacrifices,  such  as  those  for 
long  life,  prosperity,  and  health,  though  apparently  positive, 
are  in  reality  negative,  and  are  intended  to  effect  their  object 
by  averting  the  evil  influences  which  hinder  the  good  fortune 
or  threaten  the  life  of  the  sacrificer. 

A  certain  number  of  sacrifices  appear  to  depend  for  their 
efficacy  on  secondary  oral  rites  over  and  above  those  of  the 
satka  proper.  If  a  child,  for  example,  is  sick,  rice  may  be 
sacrificed  for  it,  and  given  to  a  passing  stranger  or  some  old 
person.  The  meaning  of  the  gift  is  not,  as  might  be  sur- 
mised, that  the  sickness  of  the  child  is  to  be  transferred  to 
the  stranger  or  old  person  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  cure,  in 
some  cases,  is  said  to  depend  on  the  prayers  offered  by  the 
recipient  of  the  rice  or  other  object  sacrificed. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  a  rich  man  wishes  to  "  sacrifice  " 
a  print  gown,  he  must  wear  it  for  several  days  and  then  per- 
form the  rite  after  laying  it  on  an  anthill.  Here  the  gown 
is  first  of  all  brought  into  intimate  association  with  the 
sacrificer,  and  the  validity  of  the  sacrifice  is  enhanced  by  the 
choice  of  an  anthill  as  the  scene  of  the  rite,  for  the  krifi  are 
believed  to  have  their  abode  in  anthills ;  at  any  rate,  the 
anthill  being  a  frequent  object  in  magical  rites,  it  seems 
clear  that  some  virtue  is  believed  to  go  out  of  it  into  the 
garment,  and  thus  indirectly  benefit  the  man  who  has  worn 
the  garment. 

We  find  an  entirely  different  class  of  ideas  in  the  renuncia- 
tion satka,  in  which  a  person  gives  up  his  most  cherished 
possession  in  order  to  obtain  a  wish.  The  idea  is  hardly 
reconcilable  with  that  of  the  efficacy  of  the  oral  rite,  and  it 
may  well  be  that  the  oral  rite  by  which  it  is  accompanied  is 
a  later  accretion,  due  to  Mohammedan  influence. 


56 

As  a  general  rule  the  gift  idea  of  sacrifice  is  seldom  found  : 
offeriugs  to  ancestors  are,  of  course,  an  exception ;  and  there 
is  a  kind  of  sham  gift — a  stone  or  bad  rice —  that  is  offered  to 
a  dead  person  who  troubles  a  man  (Plate  VII).  In  some 
places,  probably  under  Mohammedan  influence,  an  offering 
of  bread  is  made  to  Kurmnasaba  on  the  spot  where  the 
calabash  stood  in  which  the  bread  was  made ;  and  Kurmn- 
asaba and  the  "good  krifi"  are  the  recipients  of  a  bread 
offering  put  in  the  bush  near  the  farm. 

The  manual  rite  (see  p.  53)  appears  to  be  exceedingly 
simple  ;  in  none  of  the  sacrifices  at  which  I  was  present  was 
there  any  trace  of  any  preparation  of  either  tbe  victim,  the 
sacrificer,  or  the  participators.  Corresponding  to  this  sim- 
plicity and  confirming  the  observation  is  the  fact  that  the 
victim  is  not  masem —  sacrosanct;  the  bones  are  simply 
thrown  away.  An  animal  may  be  specially  reserved  to  be 
kept  about  the  house,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  imply  any 
special  sanctity  ;  the  idea  is  more  akin  to  sympathetic  magic, 
for  in  the  case  of  a  fowl  satka  for  the  long  life  of  a  new- 
born child  the  fowl  is  kept  about  the  house  until  it  gets  old  ; 
then  another  one  is  selected,  and  the  substitution  made  by 
placing  the  young  fowl  on  the  top  of  the  child's  head.  In 
the  same  way,  if  a  sheep  satka  is  made  for  the  house,  it 
is  killed  (not  sacrificed)  when  it  is  old  and  replaced  l»y 
another. 

There  may,  of  course,  be  a  subsidiary  idea  that,  the  sacri- 
fice having  been  made  to  Kurumasaba,  the  continued  pres- 
ence of  the  animal  acts  as  a  continual  reminder  of  the  prayer 
that  has  been  made,  and  the  same  holds  good  in  the  case  of 
garments  that  are  worn  after  the  satka.  But  of  this  I  saw 
no  evidence,  and  no  informant  made  any  suggestion  bearing 
on  the  point. 

There  is  an  apparent  exception  to  the  rule  that  the  victim 
is  not  sacrosanct,  for  when  a  goat  is  sacrificed  at  the  founda- 
tion of  a  new  town,  the  flesh  is  eaten,  but  the  skin,  head,  and 
feet  are  buried  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  "  that  the  town 
may  he  steady."     Here  again,  however,  the  possibility  cannot 


57 

be  rejected  that  the  root  idea  is  now  one  of  sympathetic 
magic. 

In  the  case  of  a  victim,  when  the  animal's  throat  has  been 
cut,  water  is  sometimes  used  to  wash  the  blood  from  the 
throat ;  but  as  the  blood  is  commonly  allowed  to  run  on  the 
ground,  without  any  attempt  at  collecting  it,  and  no  special 
place  is  allotted  for  this  outpouring  of  blood,  the  washing  of 
the  throat  does  not  seem  to  bear  any  special  significance. 

In  the  case  of  offerings  to  ancestors  and  to  krifi,  there  is 
some  trace  of  the  communal  meal,  though  it  is  often  limited 
to  the  rice  bread  ;  occasionally  a  portion  of  the  animal,  such 
as  the  liver,  is  devoted  entirely  to  the  recipient  of  the 
satka. 

It  is  only  very  rarely  that  this  offering  is  made  to  Kuruma- 
saba  also.,  and  in  no  case  is  an  offering  made  to  him  alone. 
Possibly  we  may  see  in  this  evidence  that  the  position  of 
Kuru,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  appeal  to  him  in  the  oral  rite,  is 
the  result  of  Mohammedan  influence. 

It  has  been  shown  on  another  page  that  wanka  and 
mas  am  are  not  clearly  distinguished.  One  informant  also 
regarded  the  satka  as  not  only  protective  in  the  sense  of 
warding  off  evil,  but  actually  punitive.  A  sacrifice  may  be 
offered  for  the  cattle  if  leopards  hairy  them.  A  cow  is  killed, 
and  all  eat  of  the  fiesh  ;  a  bad  man  who  tries  to  injure  them 
will  be  "  caught  "  by  the  satka,  and  his  belly  will  swell.  He 
must  then  apply  to  the  mo,  rim  an  who  buried  the  first  charms 
in  the  compound  where  the  sacrifice  was  made.  He  brings 
"  books,"  water,  and  kola,  and  divines  with  the  kola;  if  both 
halves  are  "  open,"  water  is  thrown  on  the  ground,  a  charm 
(sebe)  is  hung  on  the  neck  of  the  sufferer,  and  one  is  given 
him  to  drink  by  writing  words  on  a  "  prayer  board,"  washing 
them  off  and  giving  him  the  liquid  as  a  draught. 

In  a  certain  number  of  cases  the  satka  resembles,  at  any 
rate  outwardly,  a  rite  of  transference  of  evil.  If  sickness  is 
frequent,  all  pray  on  a  stone,  and  it  is  put  in  the  fork  of  a 
tree  ;  if  a  man  is  summoned  by  his  chief,  a  fowl  is  put  on  his 
head  ;  all  pray  on  it,  and  it  is  released.     If  the  coining  of 


58 

war  is  feared,  a  spotted  fowl  is  "  sacrificed  "  and  released  far 
from  the  town. 

Susu. — The  same  fundamental  idea  of  sacrifice  (se.raxe) 
is  found  in  this  tribe,  but  certain  special  features  call  for 
notice. 

The  sacrifice  against  witches,  etc.,  is  a  banana  stem  planted 
outside  the  town ;  this  was  found  in  the  Timne  area  as  a 
satka  against  falling  from  a  palm-tree.  All  men  of  the 
town  take  part  and  pray  that  the  witches  may  die;  finally, 
arrows  are  fired  from  toy  bows  and  strips  of  cloth  tied  to  the 
stem.  The  rite  is  not  an  annual  one,  but  is  practised  only  in 
certain  years. 

The  colour  of  the  victim  is  of  more  importance  than  in  the 
Timne  area,  where  a  black  fowl  figures  only  in  a  sacrifice  for 
rain.  A  black  fowl  is  sacrificed  on  the  first  day  of  work  in 
the  farm,  that  workers  may  neither  fall  sick  nor  wound 
themselves.  A  white  fowl  is  kept  in  a  compound  against 
bad  yinna,  and  every  Friday  all  the  people  in  the  house 
touch  the  fowl  and  pray  for  peace.  When  it  thunders,  a  red 
cock  is  killed  in  the  middle  of  the  yard,  and  small  children 
eat  it  with  rice  ;  white  cotton  is  ':  sacrificed  "  and  put  round 
the  house.     A  white  fowl  is  sacrificed  at  seed-time. 

The  sacrifice  against  fire  is  to  plant  an  old  pestle  in  the 
ground  outside  the  town ;  from  each  house  a  head  pad  of 
grass  is  brought  and  strung  on  it. 

Uice  bread  is  sacrificed  in  the  house  every  Thursday 
evening  to  the  father  and  mother,  and  small  children  eat  it 
after  an  hour. 

Koranko. — The  conception  of  saroko  seems  to  be  vaguer 
in  this  tribe.  An  empty  basin  may  be  covered  and  small 
children  told  that  there  is  rice  inside.  When  the  lid  is 
raised,  they  cry  with  disappointment ;  then  you  will  not 
suffer  from  disease  and  your  enemies,  contrary  to  their 
expectations,  will  find  you  well.  The  idea  is  obviously 
mimetic  ;  but,  in  a  rite  to  secure  that  a  climbing  rope  will 
not  break,  the  opposite  idea  prevails  ;  a  rope  may  be  knotted 
and  cut  in  two  on  the  road  and  then  the  rope  actually  in  use 


59 

is  safe.  The  imitation  is  there,  in  a  way,  but  it  seems 
equally  valid  to  explain  the  rite  as  one  of  substitution. 

In  neither  of  these  cases  does  there  appear  to  be  any  oral 
or  manual  rite.  In  another  case,  where  a  form  of  words  is 
used,  the  formula  suggests  a  spell  rather  than  a  prayer.  A 
man  who  has  palaver  with  the  chief  puts  a  stone  in  the  fork 
of  a  tree  and  says  :  "  If  you  move  of  yourself,  let  my  palaver 
be  big  ;  if  you  cannot  move  unless  people  move  you,  let  it  be 
looked  upon  as  a  foolish  case." 

Some  of  the  farming  rites,  though  not  reckoned  to  the 
sarake,  resemble  them  in  form.  Grass  stems  are  cut  in  the 
farm,  and  sand  procured  from  water  near ;  then  prayer  is 
offered  that  as  there  is  much  sand  in  the  water  and  all 
cannot  be  removed,  so  let  there  be  so  much  rice  that  all 
cannot  be  reaped. 

A  creeper  called  ratohk  is  cut  and  beaten  :  then  a  stick 
Ls  split  and  a  piece  of  the  creeper,  three  inches  long,  put  in 
the  split ;  two  of  these  sticks  are  put  facing  each  other  at 
the  entrance  to  the  farm,  so  that,  as  a  thing  put  in  its  proper 
place  cannot  move,  so  the  rice  cannot  go  away  from  the 
farm  When  the  rice  is  reaped,  three  small  bunches  are  cut 
and  put,  one  on  the  sand,  one  on  each  of  the  sticks. 

Loko. — The  same  vague  conception  of  satka  (caga)  as 
among  the  Koranko  is  occasionally  found.  Water  may  be 
boiled  and  covered  with  a  fan  ;  when  the  children  come,  you 
offer  the  rice  and  there  is  none,  they  cry  ;  this  saves  you 
from  shame. 

Generally  speaking,  however,  mimetic  rites,  or  rites  which 
may  involve  the  idea  of  transference  or  of  a  scape-animal, 
seem  to  be  prominent.  A  live  fish  may  be  returned  to  the 
water  to  protect  a  man  against  evil;  a  gun  may  be  fired  with 
prayer,  to  keep  away  enemies,  or  a  toad  transfixed  with  a 
knife  for  the  same  purpose.  An  egg  may  be  dashed  on  the 
ground  with  prayer,  that  the  backbiters  may  be  scattered. 

When  rice  is  offered  to  the  ngofo  (krifi)  they  eat  it, 
although  the  rice  appears  to  remain  where  it  was  put. 

Limba. — The  conception  of  sacrifice  (sarak a)  seems  to  be 


60 

Less  vague  in  some  respects,  but  one  informant  stated  that 
they  "  prayed  to  the  sheep,"  sacrificed  by  order  of  a  diviner, 
and  then  cut  its  throat.  One  rite  shows  the  close  relation- 
ship between  divination  and  sacrifice,  which  finds  a  parallel 
in  the  similar  relation  between  omen  and  in  a  so  in  among 
the  Timne  :  white  and  red  kola  are  offered  with  prayer,  and 
then  split  and  thrown,  that  bad  things  may  not  come.  From 
the  accounts  of  divination  given  on  other  pages  it  is  clear  that 
the  diviner  is  regarded,  not  so  much  as  foretelling  already 
predetermined  events,  as  himself  deciding  what  the  future 
will  be.  If  the  first  throw  is  bad,  a  second  may  be  tried  and 
even  a  third  ;  or  the  conditions  may  be  changed.  Among  the 
Limba  the  compelling  power  of  the  diviner's  act  is  recognised 
by  their  inclusion  of  it  among  sacrifices. 

Generally  speaking  the  blessing,  and  mimetic  rites,  seem 
to  be  the  most  important  features  in  sacrifice  among  the 
Limba. 

PROTECTIVE    PJTES. 
WANKA. 

There  are  numerous  practices  and  charms  for  the 
protection  of  property  against  thieves  and  witches ;  charms 
against  the  former  are  called  wanka,  the  latter  kanta;  the 
term  kanta  is  used  because  the  charms  are  believed  to 
"  close  "  the  farm  against  evil  influences  and  thus  preserve 
the  rice  and  other  crops  from  harm.  The  original  meaning 
of  wanka  was  not  ascertained. 

There  is  no  very  obvious  line  of  demarcation  between 
these  protective  magical  practices  and  the  satka  ("  sacrifice  "), 
such  as  fans  or  suspended  pieces  of  calabash  whose  object  is 
to  blow  away  the  "  bad  breeze,"  i.e.,  evil  influences,  or  the 
a l»eni pa,  distinguished  from  the  satka  by  the  fact  that  the 
name  of  God — Kurumasaba — is  not  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  latter. 

As  a  lypical  wanka  may  be  taken  the  apot  or  medicine 
ball  ;  this  consists  of  a  small  roof  over  a  piece  of  calabash  in 
which  lies  a  ball   of  mud — hence   the   name — in  which  are 


Plate  VIII. 


61 

stuck  small  pieces  of  stick  with  raw  cotton  wrapped  round 
the  ends  "  to  make  it  look  dreadful  to  the  thieves." 

The  wanka  is  put  up  by  anyone  who  knows  how  to  make 
it ;  some  men  may  be  able  to  give  details  of  a  dozen  different 
kinds,  others  may  not  know  one.  When  the  wanka  apQt 
is  put  down,  the  operator  chews  kola  and  spits  all  round  the 
calabash — a  common  feature  in  other  forms  of  wanka — and 
says  :  "  We  put  this  kola  nut  down  to  keep  our  kola  ;  if 
anyone  steals,  let  his  arm  or  leg  swell."  If  anyone  steals 
and  a  swelling  results,  the  thief  must  call  in  a  diviner  (omen), 
who  will  tell  him  he  has  been  caught  by  wanka  and  direct 
him  to  go  to  the  man  who  put  it  up ;  he  is,  of  course,  not 
necessarily  the  owner  of  the  kola  tree.  From  this  man  the 
thief  obtains  medicine  leaves  to  put  on  his  swelled  limb ; 
these  leaves  are,  in  many  cases,  the  same  as  those  used  in  the 
composition  of  the  wanka. 

When  the  kola  is  ripe,  the  maker  of  the  wanka  is 
summoned  and  told  to  take  off  the  charm.  In  putting  it 
down  he  has  used  his  right  hand,  now  he  uses  his  left  hand 
and  removes  the  calabash  and  mud  ball,  saying :  "  I  came 
and  put  you  up ;  now  I  come  and  take  you  off."  Then  the 
owner  can  harvest  his  kola. 

Other  accounts  say  that  the  mud  must  be  boiled,  probably 
in  order  that  the  affected  limb  may  be  hot  and  painful ;  or 
that  in  boring  the  holes  for  the  cotton  the  operator  says : 
"  Cause  sores,  therefore  I  bore  holes."  In  taking  off  the 
wanka,  leaves  must  be  used  with  the  left  hand  ;  and  my 
informant  thought  that  only  the  owner  could  take  the 
wanka  off,  but  that  if  he  died  he  would  hand  down  to  his 
son  the  knowledge  of  what  leaves  to  use.  There  is,  however, 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  cannot  summon  another  person 
to  put  down  the  wanka. 

One  informant  stated  that  even  if  the  owner  put  down  the 
wanka,  he  must  perform  the  wanki  ceremony  to  remove  it, 
or  he  himself  would  be  "  caught." 

Under  the  head  of  totemism  is  mentioned  the  fact  (p.  136) 
that   some  quas i-totemistic  tabus  are  termed  wanka;   this 


62 

suggests  that  the  leaves,  etc.,  used  in  making;  the  wanka 
may,  in  some  cases  at  least,  have  been  tabued  and  were 
subsequently  taken  for  use  in  protective  magic  ;  according  to 
one  definition  a  wanka  differs  from  a  kanta,  in  that  it  is 
put  down  by  people  who  know  how  to  cure  diseases  (i.e., 
those  caused  by  the  wanka);  on  this  theory  the  leech 
employed  by  those  who  infringed  a  tabu  conceived  the  idea 
of  using  the  forbidden  plant  as  a  charm.  It  is  at  least  very 
suggestive  that  for  the  cure  of  disease  caused  by  a  wanka 
the  same  kind  of  leaves  must  be  taken  as  are  used  to  make 
the  wanka. 

As  an  example  may  be  taken  the  wanka  known  as 
amintai;  mintais  said  to  mean  fearless,  but  it  is  not  clear 
why  this  name  should  be  used.  At  Matoteka,  amintai  is 
said  to  "  catch  "  the  leg  bone  and  to  be  caused  by  cutting  the 
leaves  of  the  wanka  (i.e.,  tabu)  tree  in  clearing  the  bush; 
the  leaves  of  the  tree  are  used  as  a  remedy. 

According  to  another  informant  the  amintai  wanka  is 
made  of  e,  sit  a  leaves  tied  in  a  bundle  and  hung  on  the  tree  ; 
kola  must  be  chewed,  as  for  the  wanka  apot,  and  the  spell 
pronounced.  A  thief  gets  a  sore  on  his  leg  which  is  called 
amintai.  Etol  leaves  were  named  by  another  village,  and 
the  same  leaves  mixed  with  ambaka  formed  the  remedy. 
I  was  told  in  one  place  that  anyone  who  cures  rheumatism 
can  cure  amintai ;  but  my  informant  made  more  than  one 
strange  statement  and  was  perhaps  not  wholly  reliable ;  he 
said,  for  example,  that  some  krifi  (see  p.  31)  suffer  from 
katuk,  which  seems  to  be  epilepsy,  and  that  anyone  who 
follows  them  along  a  road  will  get  epilepsy,  which  lie 
included  among  wanka. 

At  Maka,  amintai  was  said  to  be  a  woman's  wanka; 
the  leaves  were  to  be  wrapped  in  a  broken  mat  and  placed 
on  a  small  platform.  The  suffering  thief  was  to  be  cured  by 
a  vapour  bath  of  a  decoction  of  the  same  leaves. 

There  are,  however,  other  wanka  which  cannot  be 
explained,  as  can  amintai,  by  the  utilisation  of  former  tabu 
plants;   kalapot   (fire   stick),  for  example,  seems  to  be  a 


63 

kind  of  mimetic  magic.  The  operator  must  hang  it  up 
by  a  rope  and  put  a  roof  over  it,  repeating  the  usual  charm, 
and  declaring  that  his  eye'  is  to  pain  him,  getting  red  like 
fire.  As  a  remedy  they  take  e,lap  leaves  and  rub  them  in 
the  hands  after  warming  them  ;  then  they  are  put  in  a  leaf 
funnel  and  the  juice  is  dropped  in  the  affected  eye. 

Another  informant  said  that  kokant  should  be  cut  and 
half  burned  for  this  wanka,  while  a  third  thought  it  was 
formed  of  a  splinter  which  caused  the  head  of  the  thief  to 
turn. 

Another  kind  of  wanka  punishes  the  thief  by  the  object 
used  becoming,  as  it  were,  tabu  to  him.  Aiibata  is  a  small 
mat  and  when  it  "  catches  "  a  thief,  he  cannot  lie  on  a  mat, 
but  only  sit.  To  cure  him,  the  owner  applies  the  mat  to  the 
painful  spot  and  says  :  "Wanka,  leave  him  alone,  I  know 
who  stole." 

The  eyebe  wanka  is  in  some  places  a  simple  tabu 
wanka  (see  p.  136).  Elsewhere  it  resembles  an  ordinary 
wanka,  but  the  penalty  falls  on  a  woman  of  the  family  of 
the  thief,  or  on  her  child,  which  suffers  from  diarrhoea. 
Another  informant  said  that  it  was  a  mat  and  an  anthill  put 
under  an  orange  tree  to  protect  it ;  if  a  woman  sucked  an 
orange,  her  children  suffer  from  diarrhoea,  unless  they  are 
cured  by  being  seated  on  the  wanka;  this  cannot  be  done 
till  the  child  is  old  enough  to  have  its  head  shaved.  Only 
women  who  have  not  borne  children  are  liable  to  be  caught ; 
once  caught  they  can  go  on  eating  oranges  without  further 
ill  consequences. 

According  to  one  informant,  ankokoa  is  a  simple  tabu 
wanka  and  affects  a  man  in  the  ribs,  if  he  cuts  the  leaves  of 
this  tree  so  that  they  die  on  the  ground  ;  a  cure  is  effected 
by  a  man  with  red  beads.  Another  account  says  that  this 
wanka  is  a  broken  mat,  and  that  as  a  remedy  must  be  used 
a  broken  mat  reddened  with  camwood  and  put  on  the 
patient's  ribs. 

The  horn  of  an  animal  called  ambok,  which  is  also  a 
totem,  is  another  tabu  wanka;  when  the  animal  is  killed 


64 


one  of  the  clan  that  forbids  this  animal  gets  the  horns  and 
uses  them  to  cure  sufferers  by  rubbing  them. 

But  the  idea  of  tabu  is  not  necessarily  present,  for  the 
name  wank  a  is  also  applied  to  kase,re,  dry  rice,  which  at 
times  causes  intestinal  troubles  when  too  much  is  eaten ;  the 
remedy  is  to  get  e,toma  leaves,  and  drink  the  decoction  as 
a  laxative.  This  wank  a  is  so  classed  simply  because  pain 
results  from  the  use  of  it.  A  similar  wanka  is  a  mat, 
because  a  man  gets  pains  in  his  ribs  if  he  lies  long  on  it ; 
children  put  small  mats  in  a  cleft  stick  and  stroke  the 
patient. 

Another  application  of  the  term  wanka  is  to  the  small 
broom  called  akuso,  put  up  at  the  entrance  to  a  farm. 
When  a  man's  foot  hurts  him,  the  broom  is  warmed  at  the 
fire  and  he  puts  his  foot  on  it  and  then  throws  it  away 
outside  the  town.  Here  apparently  there  is  no  question  of 
the  broom  having  caused  the  disease  and  the  remedy  is  of  the 
nature  of  transference  of  disease. 


Name. 

Description. 

"  Causes." 

Cure. 

asar ... 

(1)  a  stone  with  sticks 

jaw  and 

in  front  and  behind. 

arm  pains. 

(2)  stone  wrapped  in 

mat. 

(3)  stone  in  split  stick 

leaves. 

akal ... 

leaves  in  a  "  hamper" 

waist 
pains. 

apQpe 

broken  calabash  hung 

stomach- 

gpur pur  decoction. 

on  tree. 

ache. 

tame 

snail    shell    on    kola 

jaw  pains 

§  d  u  m  a  leaves  ground 

tree. 

and  rubbed  on  ;  de- 

1 

coction  of  old  leaves 

to  wash  mouth. 

koparanta  ... 

palm    mid  -  rib    and 

pain  in 

outer     bark     with 

ribs. 

splinter          passed 

through. 

antakia 

crossed  sticks. 

rabumperona 

cow   bone    hung    on 
tree. 

kagbet 

kind    of    palm  with 
"thorns,"  medicine 
on  it. 

65 


Name. 

Description. 

"  Causes." 

Cure. 

ka  ynn 

fish-trap 

elephanti- 
asis. 

kabara 

palm  nuts 

eve   pains 

decoction     of      palm 

(1)  in  broken  calabash 

. 

nut  and  leaves. 

(2)  in  cleft  stick. 

anbelih 

(1)  ankonta  bark   ... 

(2)  seed. 

jaw  pain. 

ankonta 

a  n  k  0  n  t a  seed  in  split 

teeth 

bark      decoction     to 

stick. 

bleed. 

wash  mouth. 

akentekeira 

"stick     for     sitting 
down  "  antolo  leaf 
tied  on. 

ankompia    ... 

seed     of      ankompia 

succession 

hung  on  tree 

of  boils. 

kafgnt 

cowries  hung  on  tree 

eye  pains. 

anbentebede 

seed  of  a n  k  o  n  k  o  r  o,  t 

broken 

near  tree. 

arm. 

ragbenle 

looped  palm  leaves  ... 

s  on 
face. 

asamtatak   ... 

is  in  pot... 

cough 

decoction  to  drink. 

at  is  ... 

knife  under  tree 

pain  in 

split  wood   and    put 

ribs. 

on  ribs. 

akara 

"  things"  in  mat 

1  '1  1(1  V 

leaves      for      vapour 

swells. 

bath. 

tarak 

palm    mid-iib  cross- 

pain  in 

nil)  wanka  on  side. 

tied  with  hi  ire. 

libs. 

ralil 

pot,   red     base    with 

red  marks 

leaves      burned       to 

white  spots. 

ashes  rubbed  on. 

abopr 

leaf  of  boforoko  in 

pain  in 

chew  akam  and  rub 

split  stick. 

rilis. 

on. 

... 

fori     leaf      tied     on 
ground. 

eye  pain 

vapour  bath. 

kasam  kaloko 

palm  leaves  knotted 

pain  in 

three  times. 

ribs. 

kumban 

"like  tree." 

death  of 
children. 

(see  p.  188). 

atoboli 

ekqnton  leaves  tied 
with  thread  on  three 
sticks. 

( [ysentery 

juice  of  leaves. 

asetene 

palm     mid-rib  cleft, 
with    thorns    from 
bush  yams  and  mid- 
rib passed  through. 

? 

(a)  native  ladder"] 

(b)  tortoise  shell    | 

(c)  kalolum 

('/)  chewed  kola    j 
(>')  stone 

66 


Name. 

Description. 

"( lauses." 

Cure. 

kawonko 

plaited  palm  leaf 

inability 

dip  plaited  palm  leaf 

to  drink 

in  decoction  of  cer- 

water. 

tain  leaves  and  rub 
on  throat. 

masapia 

young    palm    leaves 

griping 

amfikan  bark   from 

knotted. 

pains 

east  and  west  sides 

(thief's 

of    tree   whose  top 

child). 

was  broken  off  be- 
fore leaves  came  out. 
Wooden  basin  of 
decoction  on  rubbish 
heap,  bambu  across 
it ;  dip  child  in  it. 

antibi-tibi  ... 

(1)  unbroken  calabash 

(1)  many 

(1)  decoction  of  mala- 

bored,    and    cotton 

sores. 

nsumatakr  leaves 

inserted    in   holes  ; 

(2)  chancre 

as  wash  ;  and  young 

set  up  in  farm. 

leaves     of     akant 

(2)  bush  rope. 

mashed  and  applied. 
(2)  decoction  as  wash; 
a  pi  1  leaves  and  bark 
boiled;  sores  washed 
with      water      and 
"  cream  "  applied. 

antint 

"ogusi "  seed 

sores  on 
scrotum. 

katunto 

loss  of 
nose. 

tasak 

small  leaves  tied  like 

pain  in 

comb,  and  split  kola 

ribs. 

amQpia 

katap  and  kalolum 

jaw  pain 

vapour  bath. 

With  the  exception  of  antibitibi  all  the  foregoing  appear 
to  be  tabu  wank  a.  The  action  seems  to  be  regarded  as 
automatic,  for  one  informant  said  that  if  a  wanka  found  a 
stolen  object  near  a  man's  house,  it  might  "  catch  "  him  by 
mistake  ;  or  a  wanka  may  catch  a  weak  man  who  passes  near 
it,  even  if  he  is  not  a  thief  ;  or  it  may  catch  a  man  who  puts 
his  foot  upon  a  stolen  object. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  there  is  an  animistic  implica- 
tion in  this. 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  a  "  sacrifice"  is 
offered  to  a  wanka  when  it  is  put  down  ;  and  that  one  way 


67 

of  curing  pains  caused  by  it  is  to  spit  chewed  kola  both  on 
the  wank  a  and  on  the  part  affected. 

Exceptionally  the  term  wanka  is  used  of  the  tabu  put  by 
the  chief  upon  the  palm  nuts  and  other  fruits  until  they  are 
ripe.  There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  ceremony  or  material 
evidence  of  the  wanka;  but  this  application  of  the  word  is 
clearly  not  very  remote  from  the  primary  one,  in  which  so 
much  depends  upon  the  spoken  word.  A  breach  of  this 
wanka  may  lie  punished  by  a  fine  of  £4.  The  measure  is  of 
obvious  utility  as  a  guarantee  against  theft. 

Koranko.  Wanka  (laroh). — The  automatic  conception  of 
the  protective  rite  is  seen  in  the  belief  that  if  a  spider's  web 
passes  through  the  laroh  and  touches  a  man,  he  will  be 
"caught,"  even  if  he  is  not  a  thief. 

Yalunka. — The  name  for  wanka  is  sugure. 

Loko.  Wanka  (ha). — A  number  of  protective  rites  are 
known,  all  of  which  seem  to  have  Tinme  names,  and  are, 
therefore,  derived  on  one  side  or  the  other. 


AKANTA    (ABEMPA). 

The  difference  between  kanta  and  wanka  was  explained 
by  one  informant  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  kanta  was  put 
down  by  diviners,  the  wanka  by  people  who  knew  how  to 
cure  diseases.  Generally  speaking,  the  kanta  appears  to  be 
"  medicine  "  put  at  the  entrance  of  a  farm  to  keep  away 
krifi  and  witches. 

The  kanta  are  also  known  as  bempa,  which  are  frequently, 
in  some  forms  at  least,  undistinguishable  from  satka,  but  are 
recognisable  by  the  fact  that  the  name  of  God — Kurumasaba 
— is  not  pronounced  in  making  the  bempa. 

In  many  cases  a  "  gate  "  is  put  up  at  the  entrance  ;  this 
may  be  a  mat  with  an  ant-heap  inside  hung  from  two  sticks. 
Water  is  thrown  on  the  medicine  when  the  witch  confesses 
and  its  effect  ceases. 

Another  form  is  a  bottle  sunk  in  the  ground  at  the  entrance 
to  a  farm. 

F  2 


68 

'When  they  want  to  hoe,  a  fowl  and  rice  are  offered  to  a 
pot  in  the  farm,  which  a  diviner  puts  np  for  good  crops  with 
thread  and  leaves  (or  hark)  inside  and  a  roof  over  it ;  in  offer- 
ing the  fowl  they  say  they  wish  that  they  may  get  good  crops 
and  that  no  one  may  he  hurt;  a  handful  of  hoiled  rice  is  put 
near  the  pot  and  the  rest  of  the  rice  eaten  with  the  fowl. 

The  same  ritual  is  used  when  krifi  are  declared  hy  the 
diviner  to  he  near. 

Near  the  entrance  to  the  farm  a  log  with  a  small  stick 
hooked  into  it,  or  two  hooked  sticks,  are  put  down  for  good 
crops ;  they  are  explained  as  "being  good  to  keep  away  witches. 
Another  method  is  to  get  medicine  and  "swear"  and  get 
angry  in  the  farm. 

Another  Item  pa  is  a  rod  with  seven  small  sticks  tied  on 
the  top  ;  ashes  are  strewn  before  it  and  a  bottle  planted  ;  the 
small  sticks  have  a  ball  of  thread  or  cotton  tied  on  the  top  of 
each. 

Bush  rope  (akap)  is  sometimes  tied  in  a  bundle  and  buried 
at  the  entrance  of  the  farm ;  or  a  pestle  with  two  head  pods 
strung  on  it  is  fastened  across  the  path  with  two  sticks. 

Alter  hoeing  the  farm  a  fan  may  be  hung  from  a  stick  ;  the 
farmer  puts  it  on  the  stone  in  the  middle  of  the  farm  (p.  174) 
and  puts  his  hands  on  it,  saying, "  I  come  and  sacrifice  that  I 
may  have  plenty  of  rice."  The  stick  on  which  it  is  hung  is 
put  near  the  stone  and  the  fan  keeps  away  bad  things  and 
trouble. 


69 


VIII.— RITUAL     PROHIBITIONS. 

Under  the  head  of  mas  am — forbidden — are  grouped  a 
large  number  of  beliefs  and  practices  which  have,  for  our 
ideas,  no  very  clear  bond  of  union.  They  are,  however,  very 
definitely  distinguished  from  the  simply  "bad"  in  some 
cases,  and  must  consequently  be  regarded  as  ritual  in  their 
nature  with  an  underlying  magico-religious  idea.  It  is,  how- 
ever, somewhat  singular  that  no  idea  of  mas  am  is  said  to 
attach  either  to  a  corpse,  provided  it  is  that  of  an  ordinary 
person,  not  a  member  of  a  secret  society,  or  to  a  victim  after 
sacrifice ;  the  fundamental  idea  must  therefore  be  widely 
different  from  those  which  are  familiar  to  us  in  Semitic  and 
other  ancient  religious  systems. 

Another  anomalous  feature  is  that  though  a  piacular  sacri- 
fice is  sometimes  enjoined  when  a  breach  of  masam  takes 
place,  in  other  cases  no  purification  is  regarded  as  possible  ; 
in  yet  other  cases  no  evil  consequences  of  any  sort  are  feared, 
and  hence  no  piacalv.ui  is  needed  ;  and  in  others  again  the 
guilty  party  purges  himself  by  a  fine  paid  to  the  chief. 

But  more  remarkable  than  either  of  these  anomalies  is  the 
fact  that  under  mas  am  are  included  acts  which  seem  to  be 
forbidden  as  contrary  to  ordinary  prudence.  Thus,  it  is 
mas  am  to  treat  parents-in-law  disrespectfully,  for  they  would 
take  away  the  wife.  Again,  two  brothers  of  the  whole  blood 
should  not  embark  in  one  canoe  ;  for  if  it  upset,  both  would 
be  drowned ;  a  man  should  not  take  with  him  in  one  canoe 
both  his  wife  and  his  mother  ;  for  if  he  saved  his  mother,  his 
wife's  parents  would  object,  and  if  he  saved  his  wife,  his 
mother  would  curse  him,  thus  introducing,  it  is  true,  a  con- 
tingent magico-religious  element.  In  another  case  theft  was 
said  to  be  mas  am,  because  if  a  man  stole,  the  wife's  family 


70 

would  take  away  Loth  her  and  her  children  ;  here  the  magico- 
religious  element  was  less  remote,  for  it  was  stated  that  they 
would  be  taken  away  to  escape  the  effects  of  the  curse  that 
would  "  catch  "  the  thief ;  even  here,  however,  the  magico- 
religious  sanction  was  not  regarded  as  acting  directly. 

Another  masani  which  seems  to  be  clearly  referable  to 
utilitarian  grounds  is  the  prohibition  of  killing  a  gravid 
animal — cow  or  goat — but  it  seems  improbable  that  the  utili- 
tarian element  was  here  the  reason  for  the  prohibition  ;  con- 
siderations of  profit  alone,  with  no  possible  religious  factor — 
for  respect  for  the  life  of  lower  animals  is  not  found  in  West 
Africa,  either  as  an  indigenous  or  an  imported  feature — could 
well  have  suggested  the  practice,  but  not  its  religio- magical 
basis  ;  perhaps  we  may  see  in  it,  however,  an  element  intro- 
duced, possibly  with  the  cow,  by  Arabic,  or  at  any  rate 
Mohammedan,  influence. 

In  none  of  the  examples  cited  above  has  there  been  any- 
thing specially  sacred  about  the  persons  or  animals  affected 
by  the  breach  of  the  mas  am.  The  case  is  different  in  certain 
prohibitions  concerning  actions  affecting  the  chief,  who  is 
mas  am  before  crowning,  and  observes  all  his  life  long  a 
number  of  prohibitions  not  enjoined  on  the  layman.  Among 
the  rules  laid  down  to  regulate  the  behaviour  of  the  ordinary 
individual  to  the  chief  are  that  he  must  not  shake  hands 
holding  in  his  hand  a  knife,  or  a  fowl,  or  a  rope  tied  round 
the  neck  of  a  cow.  In  this  last  case  the  grounds  of  the 
prohibition  are  the  more  uncertain  ;  for  it  is  also  forbidden  to 
lead  a  cow  through  a  village  without  informing  the  head  man, 
on  some  obscure  ground  connected  with  ancestor  worship ;  at 
any  rate,  if  a  cow  is  so  led,  two  heads  of  tobacco  must  be 
given  to  the  head  man,  who  informs  the  ancestors  that  tins 
has  been  done  and  that  they  can  allow  the  cow  to  pass  ;  for 
it  is  held  that  if  this  is  not  done,  the  cow  will  stop  dead  on 
the  other  side  of  the  town  and  refuse  to  go  on. 

It  is  not  uncommon  among  primitive  peoples  to  find  certain 
actions  on  the  part  of  animals  forbidden,  and  piacular  sacri- 
fices enjoined  to  remove  the  ill  effects ;  the  only  typical  case 


71 

of  this  sort  recorded  among  the  Timne  was  that  relating  to 
the  crowing  of  a  fowl  at  night ;  in  such  a  case  some  people 
kill  the  fowl  and  eat  it,  others  give  it  away. 

It  is,  however,  somewhat  remarkable  to  find  omens  included 
under  the  head  of  mas 9m  ;  but  one  informant  stated  that  if 
a  "  spider  "  (probably  a  beetle  is  meant)  "  beat  its  dram  in  a 
man's  ear,"  it  is  masam,  and  a  relative  will  die;  no  piacular 
sacrifice  or  other  measure  will  avert  the  result.  Here  it 
seems  as  though  the  "  drumming  "  is  not  regarded  as  simply 
ominous,  but  as  itself  bringing  about  the  result. 

This  relation  of  cause  and  effect  is  clearly  seen  in  the  pro- 
hibition which  forbids  a  pregnant  woman  to  go  where  the 
entrails  of  a  big  animal  have  been  emptied,  under  pain  of 
producing  a  changeling,  or  a  child  that  is  only  half  human,  or 
of  having  some  vague  trouble  during  parturition. 

Another  class  of  masam.  is  clearly  animistic  in  its  origin. 
Certain  patches  of  bush  are  forbidden  and  a  man  who  enters 
them  is  believed  to  vanish ;  this  is  clearly  because  they  were 
especially  connected  with  the  worship  of  krifi  in  pre-Moham- 
medan  days ;  the  penalty  is  less  alarming  in  the  case  of  a 
bush  where  no  one  may  carry  a  fire-stick,  on  pain  of  having 
it  taken  away  and  carried  round  a  big  cotton-tree,  after  which 
it  disappears. 

It  is  forbidden  to  take  an  iron  pot,  or  a  brass  kettle,  to 
certain  streams,  because  of  the  krifi,  not,  however,  because  of 
harm  that  will  come  to  the  human  being. 

The  active  resentment  of  the  krifi  is  also  feared  in  some 
places  :  for  if  a  farm  be  made  where  they  live,  no  rice  will 
grow  or,  alternatively,  the  farmer  will  die. 

On  the  other  hand,  young  boys  cannot  go  near  the  burial 
place  of  the  "  old  people  "  or  they  will  get  fever,  to  avert 
which  the  oldest  man  in  the  village  must  sacrifice  rice,  palm 
oil  and  a  fowl,  and  the  father  explains  that  he  did  not  send 
the  boy.  Even  a  man  may  not  go  inside  the  boromasar 
hut  except  for  ritual  purposes ;  if  he  falls  sick,  he  must 
sprinkle  palm  wine  and  ask  to  get  well. 

Not  only  the  ancestors  collectively,  but  the  individual  dead, 


72 

irrespective  of  kinship,  may  be  feared ;  it  is  forbidden,  when 
anyone  dies  in  Mabum,  for  anyone  in  the  whole  town  to  have 
sexual  connection  ;  this  is  clearly  regarded  as  disrespectful  to 
the  dead,  for  if  they  err  from  ignorance,  no  harm  will  result ; 
among  the  possible  penalties  are,  that  both  culprits  will 
die,  or  the  child  will  be  born  with  eyes  all  white,  or  that  the 
woman's  belly  will  swell. 

Cutting  down  a  tree  near  a  grove  is  regarded  as  masam, 
though  grass  and  seedlings  may  be  cut. 

The  remaining  mas  am,  which  form  the  great  mass,  relate 
in  the  main  to  (a)  parents  and  relatives  ;  (b)  rice  and  other 
crops  ;  (c)  bundu,  and  circumcision  initiants ;  (d)  secret 
societies ;  (e)  certain  diseases.  They  refer  largely  to  sexual 
intercourse,  especially  in  the  first  three  cases.  The  result  of 
a  breach  of  the  prohibition  is  in  some  cases  supposed  to  be 
nil,  but  this  is  probably  due  to  a  general  decadence  of  primi- 
tive belief  and  custom,  under  Mohammedan  influence,  in  the 
last  fifty  years.  Where  a  sanction  exists,  it  is  comparatively 
rare  for  a  remedy  to  be  known  against  the  misfortune  caused 
by  the  misconduct. 

The  penalty  is  visited  in  some  cases  directly  on  the  offender, 
by  way  of  disease  or  death ;  in  other  cases  the  punishment, 
while  still  a  personal  one,  is  indirect  and  falls  on  some  person 
other  than  the  offender ;  in  a  large  number  of  cases  the  crops 
(or  other  property)  of  the  offender,  or,  properly  speaking,  the 
crops  with  which  the  offender  is  brought  in  contact,  are 
believed  to  fail  as  a  result  of  misconduct. 

Taking  first  the  comparatively  small  class  of  cases  in  which 
actions  are  prohibited  because  of  the  curses  that  might  follow 
them,  we  find  that  this  is  only  a  ground  for  m  as  am  in 
the  case  of  the  nearest  relatives  ;  the  father  must  be  obeyed 
or  he  will  curse  you  ;  so  must  the  mother,  for  if  she  says :  "  I 
hope  you  will  be  left  in  the  world  like  the  wind  "  (i.e.  wander- 
ing from  place  to  place  and  owning  nothing),  there  is  noway 
of  saving  the  object  of  the  curse.  Under  the  same  head  may 
probably  be  reckoned  the  prohibition  of  treating  parents-in-law 
disrespectfully,  which  has  already  been  mentioned.     It  seems 


probable  that  it  is  to  avoid  a  wife's  curses  that  a  man  may  not 
take  her  property  to  give  to  one  of  her  mates,  nor  have  con- 
nection with  two  wives  on  the  same  night.  A  similar  rule 
forbids  a  man  to  bring  a  woman  "  friend  "  (komani)  to  his 
house  for  sexual  relations  without  his  wife's  leave  ;  his  wife 
might  be  notified  by  her  husband  and  summon  the  woman, 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  husband  of  the  latter,  and 
yet  not  sacrifice  her  own  self-respect ;  the  "  friend "  would 
remain  half  the  night  and  go  home  without  her  husband's 
knowledge. 

Under  this  head,  too,  may  perhaps  be  classed  the  rules 
requiring  a  woman  to  respect  her  hushand  and,  e.g.,  answer 
when  he  calls,  kneel  when  she  comes  at  his  summons,  bring 
him  water  when  he  demands  it,  offer  food,  etc.,  with  the  right 
hand,  not  cook  rice  and  then  go  out,  and  so  on. 

Conversely  a  husband  may  not  go  on  beating  his  wife  until 
he  wounds  her. 

All  these  latter  cases,  however,  are  somewhat  obscure, 
though  they  belong  to  the  general  body  of  negro  custom  and 
are  found  over  a  wide  area. 

The  obvious  reason  that  such  actions  would  cause  ill-feeling 
can  hardly  account  for  their  being  regarded  as  ritually 
forbidden,  apart  from  the  risk  of  cursing. 

It  is  equally  forbidden  to  curse  one's  parents,  one's  sister, 
or  one's  step -father;  but  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  man 
from  expressing  himself  freely  with  regard  to  his  paternal  or 
maternal  uncles. 

Under  this  head,  too,  we  may  perhaps  class  the  rule  that 
forbids  a  man's  sister's  son  from  climbing  his  kola  tree  ;  the 
result  of  this  is  supposed  to  be  that  the  pods  fall  of  them- 
selves ;  the  mother  has  to  take  a  strip  of  cloth  and  beg  her 
brother,  who  offers  a  prayer  and  puts  the  strip  down  probably 
near  the  tree.  It  is  quite  uncertain  why  the  climbing  of  the 
tree  should  be  supposed  to  have  this  effect ;  but  it  is  clear 
that  the  action  of  the  mother  is  intended  to  prevent  some 
ulterior  ill  effects  to  the  son. 

Among  general  sexual  prohibitions  are  the  common  ones 


74 

forbidding  connection  in  the  bush  or  during  the  day 
(forbidden  by  the  Eagbenle  society).  A  woman  must  wash 
after  having  connection  or  she  will  swell.  Two  brothers  may 
not  have  connection  with  the  same  woman  ;  probably  for  the 
same  reason  that,  if  two  men  have  had  connection  with  the 
same  woman,  one  may  not  see  the  other  one  sick,  because  he 
will  fall  sick  himself,  or  die,  if  he  sees  the  corpse.  A  widow 
is  probably  forbidden  for  animistic  reasons  (see  pp.  75,  128). 
A  man  may  not  have  connection  with  a  pregnant  woman  who 
is  not  his  wife  ;  nor  with  his  wife  if  she  is  advanced  in 
pregnancy.  After  child-birth,  relations  are  not  resumed  for 
two  or  three  years,  or  the  child  will  die. 

Incest  is  of  course  strictly  forbidden,  stress  being  laid 
mainly  on  relations  with  mother,  sister,  mother-in-law, 
daughter-in-law,  father's  wife,  or  younger  brother's  wife  (in 
some  places  this  is  olas — wicked — but  not  masom).  The 
penalty,  however,  for  these  oifences  does  not  seem  to  be 
heavy;  a  man  who  offends  with  his  mother-in-law  risks 
having  his  wife  taken  away ;  one  who  commits  incest  with 
mother  or  sister  is  regarded  as  a  witcli ;  he  is  fined  £4  and  a 
cow  for  sacrifice ;  and  if  he  is  a  "  small  boy,"  he  may  also  be 
beaten.  When  we  compare  this  penalty  with  that  for  having 
relations  with  a  wife's  sister,  viz.,  £2,  though  the  action  is 
merely  olas,  the  difference  does  not  seem  great.  In  the  case 
of  incest  with  a  sister  the  offence  is  usually  dealt  with  by  the 
Eagbenle  society  (where  it  exists) ;  if  this  is  not  done  the 
offenders  become  sterile  or  their  children  die  (see  p.  147). 

In  connection  with  these  rules  are  found  customs  of 
avoidance  of  a  kind.  A  man  may  not  see  his  mother,  sister, 
or  mother-in-law  naked ;  he  may  not  sit  or  lie  on  a  bed  with 
his  sister  by  the  same  father,  though  it  is  permitted  in  the 
case  of  a  sister  of  the  full  blood  ;  the  place  where  his  mother 
lies  down  is  sometimes  mas  em  for  him;  elsewhere  he  may 
sit  on  her  bed,  though  not  on  those  of  other  wives  of  his 
father  ;  if  he  does  so,  his  plans  will  miscarry ;  to  escape  this 
he  must  give  something  to  the  woman  in  question,  that  she 
may  ask  a  blessing  for  him. 


75 

The  children  of  brother  and  sister  by  the  full  blood  may 
not  lie  down  on  one  mat  together. 

The  interpretation  of  rules  of  avoidance  is  usually  very 
difficult  and  these  are  no  exception  ;  generally  speaking,  it  is 
clear,  they  apply  to  close  relatives  but  not  to  those  who,  like 
own  mother  and  sister,  have  grown  up  in  one  house  with  a 
man.  It  seems  quite  probable  that  avoidance  is  enjoined  so  as 
to  make  incest  a  more  remote  possibility  :  but,  as  incest  with 
mother  and  sister  are  clearly  recognised  as  possible,  it  is  not 
obvious  why  the  rules  with  regard  to  them  are  not  equally 
stringent  for  the  adult  male,  in  view  of  the  presumably 
greater  opportunities  and  smaller  risk  of  detection. 

The  fact  that  avoidance  between  cross  cousins  is  specially 
enjoined  suggests  that,  in  some  cases  at  least,  avoidance  is 
obligatory  in  cases  where  relations  were  formerly  permitted. 

It  is  clear  from  what  has  been  said  above  that  adultery 
.is  not  in  itself  masom  ;  a  woman  must,  however,  confess 
before  a  child  is  born,  or  it  will  die ;  before  the  rice  is 
harvested,  or  the  crop  will  be  small ;  and  before  her  husband 
goes  a  journey,  or  he  will  be  disgraced. 

A  widow  is  to  some  extent  in  the  same  position  as  a  wife  ; 
she  may  not  have  connection  with  a  man  till  she  has  washed 
at  the  water-side,  which  is  itself  masom;  a  fine  is  payable 
by  her  paramour  to  the  brothers  of  the  dead  man  and  a 
sacrifice  must  be  performed,  or  the  widow  will  die.  It  is  not 
quite  clear  how  far  we  should  interpret  this  on  an  animistic 
basis ;  the  payment  of  a  fine  suggests  that  the  widow  is  in 
the  same  position  as  the  wife  of  a  living  man  and  that 
adultery  is  an  offence  against  his  property  ;  we  find,  however, 
that  no  man  may  enter  the  widow's  house  unless  his  own  wife 
(or  one  of  them)  is  dead,  nor  any  woman  whose  first  husband  is 
not  dead.  Similarly,  a  man  who  has  committed  adultery  with 
a  woman  may  not  eat  bread  or  meat  sacrificed  to  her  husband 
when  he  dies.  If  he  does  so,  nothing  can  save  him  from 
dying  in  consequence  of  his  partaking  of  the  food.  Here 
we  seem  to  be  in  the  presence  of  a  different  set  of  ideas, 
-connected  with  an  apparent  belief  in  the  contagiousness  of 


76 

the  death  of  a  spouse ;  these  cannot,  however,  be  applied  to 
explain  the  belief  that  the  erring  widow  will  die.  Hence  it 
it  seems  probable  that  two  different  strata  of  belief  are  in 
question. 

( i  ills  in  the  Bundn  bush  are  inasom  to  men;  they  have 
a  fence  of  etanke  (elephant  grass)  round  their  house,  and 
the  enclosure  is  also  niasom  ;  a  man  who  enters  it  is  rubbed 
with  white  clay  and  fined  £4 ;  another  account  says  that  a 
man's  belly  will  swell  (from  medicines  used  by  the  women) 
and  the  edif>a  (Bundu  woman)  rubs  him  with  mafoi 
(mashed  leaves)  to  cure  him. 

Conversely,  no  woman  is  to  enter  a  circumcision  bush,  or 
she  will  lose  her  nose  ;  nor  may  a  woman  see  newly  circum- 
cised boys.  The  woman  who  cooks  for  the  boys  must  not 
have  connection  either  the  night  before  or  during  the  time 
she  is  cooking,  or  the  wounds  will  1  >c  long  in  healing. 

A  menstruous  woman  may  not  have  connection  with  her 
husband  nor  cook  for  her  husband  ;  nor  may  she  plant  any- 
thing ;  she  is  masom  even  to  male  children;  another 
account  says  that  her  husband  may  sleep  on  the  same  mat 
with  her,  but  would  not  venture  to  put  Ins  hand  on  her, 
though  it  is  not  mas  am. 

During  childbirth,  and  for  a  period  of  from  three  to  six  days 
after  it,  a  woman  is  masani  to  men  in  some  places,  though 
her  child  is  not ;  even  her  husband  may  not  see  her  after  the 
child  is  born.  Elsewhere  any  man  may  see  her  after  she  has 
re-entered  the  house  (birth  takes  place  outside).  No  woman 
even  may  be  present  at  a  birth  till  she  has  borne  a  child. 

If  sexual  relations  are  forbidden  on  ritual  grounds  between 
certain  persons  on  account  of  their  condition  in  life,  they  are 
also  forbidden  on  account  of  the  relations  of  man  with  other 
portions  of  the  organic  world,  more  especially  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  Continence  is  enjoined  on  people  concerned  with 
the  sowing  and  reaping  of  rice,  or  the  planting  and  harvesting 
of  other  crops ;  and  occasionally  on  those  who  have  to  do 
with  inanimate  nature,  such  as  makers  of  fish-traps  and 
workers  in  iron. 


When  the  farm  is  1  >eing  cleared  of  hush,  or  hoed,  a  farmer 
must  practise  continence  the  night  before ;  generally 
speaking,  no  one  who  has  ever  had  sexual  relations  may  go 
naked  to  a  farm,  and  the  prohibition  applies  especially  to 
women  ;  if  it  is  infringed,  the  sacrifice  to  keep  away  the  birds 
and  beasts  is  "spoiled,"  i.e.,  rendered  nugatory,  and  the 
animals  will  spoil  the  rice. 

If  a  man  cohabits  with  his  wife  on  the  eve  of  cassava 
planting  it  will  be  bitter ;  the  same  rule  applies  in  the  case 
of  potatoes,  yams,  and  crops  generally  ;  both  sexes  must 
observe  the  rules  ;  if  a  woman  plants  ground  nuts  or  koko 
yams,  and  disobeys,  all  the  husks  or  tubers  will  be  empty  ;  and 
all  the  kola  pods  will  be  empty  if  a  man  climbs  a  kola  tree 
under  similar  circumstances.  When  they  are  digging  the 
crop,  the  prohibition  only  applies  to  the  first  six  days.  The 
same  law  holds  good  of  palm  oil  and  palm  wine  making. 

Continence  is  almost  universally  enjoined  before  rice 
planting,  though  in  one  case  I  was  told  that  abstinence  was 
not  recpiired,  it  was  a  no  ma  atu — "God's  patience."  The 
rice  is  mas  am  before  it  is  threshed,  until  a  sacrifice  is 
offered,  and  another  sacrifice  is  needed  when  it  is  brought 
from  the  farm  to  the  town  ;  in  neither  case  may  a  man  touch 
it  if  he  has  not  practised  continence  the  night  before. 

In  like  manner  the  maker  of  a  fish-trap  and  a  blacksmith 
must  be  continent  before  working. 

Of  general  food  tabus,  apart  from  ^m'-totemistic  ones, 
which  are  dealt  with  separately  (see  p.  136),  there  are  very 
few.  In  former  days  eggs  were  forbidden.  Vultures  are 
regarded  as  dead  ancestors,  who  turned  into  them  in  order  to 
come  back  to  the  world  ;  meat  is  cut  and  thrown  to  them 
and  a  sacrifice  is  not  "  good  "  unless  vultures  come  down,  for 
God  has  not  granted  the  request ;  hence  it  is  clear  that 
vultures  are  in  as  am,  not  as  unclean,  but  as  specially 
favoured  birds. 

Generally  speaking,  secret  societies  keep  their  doings  from 
prying  eyes,  and  it  is  generally  recognised  that  Pgro,  Kofo 
and  other  societies  are  mas  em  to  the  uninitiated  ;   even  the 


corpses  of  members  may  not  be  seen  by  strangers  ;  and  the 
society  house  is  equally  sacred,  though  in  one  place  I  was 
admitted  to  a  meeting,  which  was  quite  uneventful. 

The  Maneke  (Kabenle)  society,  which  corresponds  in 
part  to  Poro,  is  specially  protected  by  masam.  No  woman 
is  to  eat  when  they  are  in  the  town,  nor  may  anyone  have 
connection  with  a  woman ;  no  woman  may  see  the  society ; 
if  she  does,  ceremonies  are  necessary  or  she  will  lose  her 
nose. 

No  one  may  roast  palm  kernels  when  the  Asur  "  oath 
medicine  "  comes  to  a  town  (see  p.  80). 

Just  as  no  one  may  expose  himself  to  the  risk  of  being 
cursed,  so  no  one  may  risk  being  caught  by  "  medicine." 

Witchcraft  does  not  appear  to  be  in  itself  masom,  but  no 
one  should  "  remove  another  person's  rice  to  his  farm  by 
witchcraft  with  his  eyes  at  night,  if  there  is  a  boundary." 
The  witch,  who  is  of  course  male  or  female,  is  caught  by  the 
"  medicine  "  and  dies,  confessing  as  he  does  so. 

No  woman  or  boy  is  to  see  a  man  suffering  from  a  "  bad  " 
disease,  such  as  leprosy  ;  the  Maneke  society  take  him  and 
bury  him  in  the  bush.  As  diseases  of  this  kind  are  often 
regarded  as  punishments  for  wrong-doing,  and  the  sufferer  is 
himself  masom,  the  prohibition  is  readily  comprehensible. 

In  curious  contrast  with  the  victim  (see  p.  56)  we  find  that 
all  wanka  (see  p..  60)  are  masam.  So  are  newly  circum- 
cised boys,  girls  in  the  Bundubush,  the  boromasar,  widows, 
menstruous  women,  and  paramount  chiefs  in  the  kanta. 

Loko — Ritual  prohibitions  (kake)  are  of  a  somewhat 
different  type  from  those  of  the  Timne,  and  are  less  easily 
referable  to  fundamental  principles.  A  mat  tied  at  both 
ends  may  not  be  carried  through  the  town  unless  a  leaf  is 
put  on  it ;  no  one  may  run  through  the  town  or  carry  a  light 
through  a  farm  at  night ;  no  one  may  pound  anything  in  a 
mortar  at  night  nor  carry  a  pestle  into  a  house.  Cooked 
rice  may  not  be  carried  to  the  threshing-floor  ;  a  woman  may 
not  bring  a  wet  fishing-net  into  the  town.  A  stranger  must 
not  put  his  foot  where  they  sacrifice,  nor  sit  on  a  big  stone 


79 

near  the  town,  nor  go  round  a  big  tree,  nor  pass  an  anthill 
without  putting  a  leaf  on  it.  One  stream  may  only  be 
forded  by  a  man  who  removes  his  trousers  ;  a  man  may  not 
enter  another  unless  he  removes  his  cap. 

Here,  too,  according  to  my  informant,  a  new-born  child  is 
k  a  k  e. 

Limba. — Kowanki. — Generally  speaking,  protective  rites 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  Timne.  even  to  the  implements 
and  names  ;  the  homoeopathic  cure  is  also  recognised. 

Kasi. — As  among  the  Yalunka,  ritual  prohibitions  are 
known  as  kasi,  which  suggests  (probably  erroneously)  that 
they  are,  or  were,  associated  in  the  native  mind  with  fines. 
It  is  significant  that  adjacent  tribes  of  different  stocks 
should  have  adopted  this  name  ;  it  points  to  the  fact  that 
ritual  prohibitions,  like  satka,  are  a  complex  embracing 
many  different  elements. 

When  incest  has  been  committed,  bush  medicines  are 
obtained,  and  the  offenders  are  washed  "  to  make  kasi  come 
out  of  their  heads." 

The  terminology  here,  as  in  the  case  of  sacrifice,  suggests 
that  an  alien  idea  has  been  adopted,  but  not  fully  under- 
stood or  assimilated. 


80 


IX.— DIVINATION,  ORDEALS,  etc. 

Methods  of  divination  are  comparatively  numerous,  more 
especially  for  the  discovery  of  thieves  and  witches.  In  the 
simplest  form  the  thief  is  cursed :  "  I  have  lost  and  not  seen 
the  thief.  I  give  him  to  you ;  hold  him."  Then  the  thief 
and  all  his  family  fall  sick. 

The  method  commonly  demands  the  use  of  a  so-called  "  oath 
medicine,"  seha  or  seah,  usually  made  by  diviners  or  mori- 
men.  They  are  said  to  have  received  upwards  of  £25  for 
such  a  service  formerly  ;  "  medicines  "  are  now  obtainable  in 
two  qualities,  at  £4  and  £1  10s.  In  the  Bombali  chief dom 
is  a  medicine  called  ansur  (spear),  which  belongs  to  a 
single  family,  and  is  inherited  in  the  male  line.  A  woman 
of  the  IvQnte  family  is  said  to  have  caught  the  medicine  in 
her  fishing-net ;  a  small  hut  was  made  for  it,  and  the  woman 
dreamed  that  it  was  ansur  and  how  it  was  to  be  used.  It 
catches  witches  and  big  thieves,  and  the  victim  "  turns  red." 

Anyone  who  is  carrying  the  spear  "  turns  red,"  if  rain  falls 
on  him,  and  develops  sores,  finally  losing  his  fingers  and  toes. 
By  "  turning  red  "  appears  to  be  meant  leprosy. 

Palm  kernels  are  not  to  be  roasted  in  a  town  when  ansur 
comes. 

Sometimes  an  accused  person  swears  before  a  medicine 
that  he  is  innocent ;  fire  sticks  are  struck  on  the  ground,  and 
the  accused  person  curses  himself  and  his  children  if  be  is 
guilty. 

When  a  man  wishes  to  make  use  of  asasa,  he  gives  red 
kola  to  the  owner,  who  brings  it  to  the  required  spot,  and 
puts  it  before  the  door  with  some  powder;  tben  the  man 
who  has  need  of  the  medicine  takes  a  piece  of  stick  and  says 
what  crime  has  been  committed,  at  the  same  time  telling  the 


81 

sasa  to  kill  the  culprit.  After  firing  the  powder  the  medi- 
cine is  taken  back  to  its  owner. 

When  a  man  falls  sick,  diviners  say  sasa  has  caught  him, 
and  the  thief  confesses.  The  owner  of  the  medicine  is  told, 
and  he  splits  a  kola-nut,  and  divines  by  throwing  it,  to  see 
if  it  is  his  medicine  that  has  caught  the  thief.  Then  the 
owner  gets  mafoi  (leaves  soaked  in  water),  puts  them  close 
to  the  medicine,  and  strikes  the  ground  with  a  stone,  saying : 
"  If  it  is  sasa  that  caught  the  thief,  let  the  man  be  well  after 
washing  and  drinking  mafoi."  Then  he  strikes  the  sasa 
with  the  stone  and  throws  the  stone  away.  Mafqi  is  also 
sprinkled  all  over  the  house  of  the  owner.  A  debtor  can  be 
dealt  with  in  the  same  way  as  a  thief. 

Another  method  of  removing  the  curse  is  to  stand  before 
the  medicine,  turning  to  the  east,  and  declare  that  the 
"  medicine  "  must  not  harm  the  culprit  again,  as  he  has  con- 
fessed. Water  is  thrown  on  the  "  medicine "  to  make  it 
"  cold." 

When  a  man  refuses  to  pay  a  debt,  the  creditor  may 
"swear,"  and  the  debtor  will  pay  if  he  gets  alarmed.  The 
medicine  represents  the  chief  who  should  have  enforced  pay- 
ment of  the  debt.  The  chief  must  be  warned  before  a  debt 
is  collected  in  this  way. 

Another  method  of  dealing  with  a  culprit  is  to  go  to  a 
blacksmith's  forge  and  tap  together  a  hammer,  pincers,  and 
am  bo ro  no  (used  by  a  blacksmith  for  straightening  iron). 
This,  probably  accompanied  by  a  curse,  causes  the  man  to 
blow  like  bellows.  When  the  culprit  confesses,  the  objects 
are  collected  again  and  water  thrown  on  them,  the  oath 
being  at  the  same  time  revoked. 

Another  method  of  divination  is  by  ordeal.  The  suspected 
person  and  the  diviner  swallow  a  fish-hook,  which  sticks  in 
the  throat  of  the  guilty  person  till  he  confesses.  A  hoe 
is  heated  red-hot  and  licked  first  by  a  child,  then  by  the 
suspected  thief  ;  the  tongue  of  the  guilty  person  swells  till  it 
is  as  big  as  his  arm.  The  diviner  is  said  to  make  the  child 
immune  by  medicine.     Water  is  put  in  a  basin,  and  two 

G 


82 

palm  ribs  laid  across  it ;  the  water  is  dropped  into  the  eye  of 
the  suspect,  and  it  pains  him  so  much,  if  he  is  guilty,  that 
he  cannot  open  it  (see  p.  48) ;  if  he  confesses,  water  is  taken 
from  the  other  side  of  the  basin  and  dropped  into  his  eye  to 
cure  it.  In  a  variant  of  this  all  suspected  persons  have  to 
provide  fowls,  and  the  diviner  drops  water  from  a  funnel  into 
the  fowls'  eyes  till  the  eye  of  the  guilty  person's  fowl  bursts. 

Eice  may  be  cooked,  to  be  eaten  hot  and  nearly  dry ;  the 
guilty  person  is  burnt. 

In  some  cases  the  diviner  himself  undergoes  the  ordeal.  I 
had  occasion  to  observe  the  methods  of  two  diviners  who 
made  use  of  hot  iron,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  with 
a  certain  amount  of  dexterity  it  should  be  easy  to  avoid 
burns,  especially  as  the  temperature  of  the  iron  was  low  :  it 
was  far  from  being  red-hot.  Not  only  so,  but  I  challenged 
the  diviners  to  a  trial,  and  undertook  to  test  their  methods 
on  my  own  hands,  but  in  each  case  they  declined  the  contest. 

In  the  first  instance,  leaves  (known  as  mafoi  mo  ban  a — 
big  niafQi)  were  mashed  in  water,  and  the  decoction 
sprinkled  on  the  fire ;  the  same  mixture  is  sprinkled  on  a 
farm  to  keep  out  witches. 

Leaves  were  then  squeezed  in  water.  The  diviner  next 
took  a  stone,  saying :  "  I  don't  come  to  look  for  all  the 
country,  but  for  one  man,"  hitting  the  pan  of  water  at  the 
same  time.  This  was  in  order  to  exclude  any  offender  who 
had  committed  a  similar  misdeed  elsewhere,  and  was  not  the 
man  the  diviner  was  looking  for.  The  chisel  was  dipped 
in  the  decoction  before  being  applied  to  the  diviner's  hands. 
Then  the  diviner  put  palm  oil  on  his  hand,  and  passed  a 
small  iron  chisel  over  his  fingers  and  the  palm  up  to  the  end 
of  his  thumb,  repeating  the  words:  "I  am  called.  I  don't 
want  to  burn.  If  what  I  am  called  for  is  true,  let  this  hot 
iron  not  slide  on  my  hand ;  if  it  is  true,  let  it  slide." 

The  second  diviner  put  a  tablespoonful  of  palm  oil  into  a 
pot  heated  on  the  fire,  and  lighted  the  vapour ;  a  thick  iron 
ring  was  then  dropped  in,  and  the  diviner,  after  dipping  his 
hands  in  the  leaf  decoction  described  above,  removed  the 


ring  from  a  flickering  flame  some  thirty  seconds  after  it  had 
been  dropped  into  the  pot.  The  ring  was  then  dropped  into 
the  decoction,  but  no  hissing  sound  was  produced.  The 
diviner's  hands  were  quite  wet  when  he  took  them  out  of  the 
flame,  and  it  was  practically  impossible  that  he  should  have 
been  burnt. 

The  diviner,  however,  informed  me  that  "  for  a  guilty 
person  "  the  ring  would  be  left  longer  in  the  pot,  and  no 
doubt  a  judicious  attitude  in  this  respect  is  preserved.  He 
added  that  he  frequently  burnt  himself  in  his  youth  before 
he  knew  how  to  manipulate  the  iron. 

The  diviner  does  not  necessarily  undergo  the  hot  iron 
ordeal  himself.  A  murderer  might  be  thus  tested ;  he  had 
to  hold  the  ring  in  his  hand  for  five  minutes. 

A  somewhat  similar  method  is  divination  with  ring  and 
banana  leaf ;  the  latter  cracks  as  soon  as  the  hot  ring  is  put 
on  it  by  the  guilty  person. 

When  the  diviner  uses  knives,  he  is  said  to  tie  charms  on 
the  handles  in  some  cases.  The  suspected  person  holds  in 
his  hand  a  piece  of  stick  as  big  as  a  match,  and  says  :  "If  I 
am  a  thief,  let  the  diviner  be  burnt  ;  if  not,  let  him  not  be 
burnt ";  and  then  puts  the  stick  aside. 

Another  method  of  divination  described  to  me  seems  to 
depend  on  some  kind  of  automatism,  but  my  informant  could 
not  tell  me  how  the  guilty  person  was  indicated.  Oysters, 
stones,  small  snails,  etc.,  are  put  in  a  basin  near  a  krifi,  and 
everyone  can  hear  a  slight  hissing  sound. 

Motor  automatisms  are  utilised  to  discover  thieves.  Any- 
one— not  necessarily  a  diviner — takes  a  fly  whisk  in  his 
hand,  and  it  beats  the  thief  till  he  confesses.  Two  young 
boys  put  a  pestle  on  their  shoulders ;  the  diviner  ties  charms 
on  the  pestle,  which  "  carries  "  the  bearers  to  the  house  of 
the  thief,  and  throws  them  down  if  they  resist. 

Conversely,  it  is  believed  that  a  man  who  steals  from 
certain  people  is  unable  to  move  from  the  place  in  which 
he  is,  where  he  committed  the  theft,  until  his  relatives 
come  and  beg  on  his  behalf. 

G  2 


84 

A  form  of  crystal-gazing  is  also  practised  ;  verses  of  the 
Koran  are  written  on  a  prayer-board,  and  washed  off  into  a 
basin  ;  a  boy  with  a  white  cloth  over  his  head  scries  (gazes) 
and  says :  "  I  see  the  king  of  heaven  and  the  king  of  hell." 
"  What  do  they  tell  you  ?"  "They  show  me  a  man."  "  His 
name  ?"  Then  the  boy  describes  him,  and  names  the  town 
he  lives  in,  and  so  on. 

The  loser  sends  to  the  town  in  question,  and  accuses  the 
thief.  If  the  charge  is  denied,  the  chief  visits  the  town,  and 
another  boy  scries  in  the  presence  of  the  thief. 

A  diviner  utilises  stones  to  discover  the  town  from  which 
a  thief  comes.  The  people  of  the  selected  town  attend,  and 
he  names  the  house  in  which  the  thief  lives,  and  finally  the 
individual  man.  He  may  also  take  stones  in  his  hand  and 
rub  them,  afterwards  putting  them  down  in  rows  by 
ones  or  twos.  As  he  looks  at  them,  he  expounds  what  they 
say. 

He  may  also  put  down  a  keg  of  gunpowder  with  charms 
about  it,  and  the  hide  of  a  bush-buck  near,  with  sand  in  it ; 
the  sand  appears  to  be  marked  irregularly  with  the  finger- 
tips, and  the  marks  subsequently  interpreted.  The  diviner 
is  said  to  be  able  to  make  the  hide  "walk"  without  touch- 
ing it. 

All  these  methods,  however,  demand  the  use  of  "  medi- 
cine "  or  the  presence  of  a  diviner,  and  are  out  of  reach  of  a 
poor  man.  To  take  proceedings  in  forma  pauperis  against 
a  culprit,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  grave  medicine.  In 
its  simplest  form  a  figurine  is  made  on  the  ground,  and  a 
katop  tree  planted,  with  the  words  :  "  If  this  person  gets 
children,  I  give  you  the  children ;  if  he  goes  on  a  palm-tree, 
he  must  fall  and  break  his  neck." 

In  a  more  elaborate  case  three  graves  were  made,  one  for 
the  thief,  one  for  the  males  of  the  family,  and  one  for  the 
females.  A  fowl-basket  was  also  put  down,  so  that  the 
thief  might  everywhere  be  disgraced  and  flogged  and  treated 
harshly,  and  that  when  he  made  a  farm,  birds  might  come 
and  take  his  rice  (Plate  IX). 


Plate  IX. 


ATETTOT.      Sec  page  36. 


SENA.     See  page  84. 


85 

According  to  another  account,  fowl  fleas  are  needed  in 
addition  to  the  basket,  which  is  covered  with  a  cloth. 

In  some  cases  at  least,  "  medicine  "  is  put  inside  the  grave 
with  the  words :  "  The  person  who  did  this  to  me,  and  I  do 
not  know  him,  I  give  him  to  you,  I  give  you  his  family  "  ; 
then  the  medicine  is  taken  out  and  the  earth  filled  in. 
Katap  leaf  is  gathered  and  put  on  the  top,  and  pieces  of  ant- 
heap  wrapped  in  kalolum  grass  are  put  at  the  head  of  the 
grave.  When  the  thief  has  been  caught,  the  "  medicine  "  is 
collected  and  the  grave  dug  up  ;  water  is  then  poured  on  the 
medicine  inside  the  grave  with  the  words :  "  Let  it  not 
happen  again."    Then  both  medicine  and  ant-hill  are  removed. 

A  more  elaborate  sena,  or  seah,  was  made  as  follows: 
In  the  centre  was  a  grave  with  a  mat  and  a  bier  on  it ;  at 
one  end  was  some  banana  fibre ;  at  the  other  a  small  tree 
(dead)  with  thread  or  cotton  wrapped  round  the  ends  of  the 
branches  and  the  points  at  which  they  joined  the  main  stem. 
At  the  foot  of  the  tree  was  an  ant-hill  with  cloth  wrapped 
round  it,  and  a  snail-shell.  One  informant  said  that  a 
climbing  rope,  and  a  hooked  stick,  with  two  head  pads 
strung  on  it,  were  also  put  down ;  but  these  were  not  there. 
The  climbing  rope  was  certainly  put  down,  however,  together 
with  a  palm  midrib  butt ;  the  snail-shell  contained  a  stone, 
to  represent  the  krifi;  by  this  means  the  krifi  was  "joined" 
to  the  man  who  stole  from  the  palm-tree. 

The  curse  spoken  was  as  follows  :  "  Stealer  of  palm  wine, 
I  do  not  know  him,  catch  him,  kill  him."  Medicine  was 
apparently  used  in  the  ceremony  in  addition  to  the  objects 
mentioned  above. 

Not  far  from  this  sena  was  another,  put  up  by  some  people 
who  had  been  entrusted  with  a  child  for  education,  and 
(possibly)  pledged  him  in  respect  of  a  debt.  When  the  parents 
demanded  the  child,  the  people  with  whom  he  had  been 
living  were  obliged  to  pay,  as  he  had  been  sold  by  the 
persons  into  whose  hands  he  had  come.  After  paying  head 
money  the  guardians  "  swore  "  against  the  people  in  whose 
hands  the  child  was. 


86 

This  sen  a  was  at  a  fork  in  the  road  hut  on  the  opposite 
side  to  the  second  path,  and  on  it  was  a  pineapple  plant 
with  the  vertebra  of  a  cow  lying  on  it. 

Divination  is  also  employed  to  ascertain  if  a  sacrifice  is 
acceptable  (see  p.  42).  A  krifi  is  warned  twenty-four 
hours  before  a  bempa  (see  p.  67)  is  made,  so  that  he  may 
not  be  absent.  When  the  time  has  arrived,  kola  is  split  and 
thrown  ;  if  the  flat  sides  are  up,  the  answer  is  favourable ; 
if  not,  the  krifi  is  "  begged,"  and  another  trial  is  made  on 
the  same  lines.  If  a  second  failure  results,  a  third  trial  is 
made,  and  the  result  is  favourable  if  the  kola  is  odd;  this 
is  interpreted  to  mean  that  the  krifi  does  not  wish  for  the 
whole  of  the  kola,  but  shares  it  with  the  people  ;  accordingly 
only  half  is  left  on  the  spot. 

In  the  morning  the  bempa  is  brought,  and  kola  is  thrown 
again  in  the  same  way  ;  but  if  the  third  trial  results  in  odd 
kola,  the  bempa  is  "not  good,"  and  the  diviner  will  order  a 
goat  to  be  sacrificed. 

Limba  {Divination). — To  detect  a  thing  a  sebe  (charm) 
is  put  upon  a  pole  carried  by  two  men,  and  it  leads  them 
straight  to  the  thief. 

A  diviner  also  puts  stones  in  front  of  him  to  represent 
wali  and  dead  people,  and  shakes  small  stones  in  his  hands, 
which  he  afterwards  puts  in  a  square,  and  divines  from  them. 

To  divine  if  a  witch  has  gone  to  a  farm,  a  few  pieces  of 
ankap  are  cut  and  tied  ;  blood  is  dropped  on  them,  and  they 
are  buried  ;  if  a  witch  has  gone,  what  has  been  buried  comes 
out  of  the  ground,  and  is  found  on  the  surface.  This  is  the 
ordinary  procedure  in  making  a  farm. 

DEEAMS   AND   OMENS. 

Dreams  occupy  an  important  place  in  the  theory  of  animism 
as  one  of  the  sources  of  the  theory  of  souls  and  spirits.  It  is 
frequently  stated  that  the  dreams  of  people  of  low  culture 
are  far  more  vivid  than  those  of  more  advanced  races. 

This  may  be  true  of  some  areas,  but  so  far  as  the  attitude 
of  my  informants  can  be  accepted  as  a  guide,  it  is  not  true 


87 

that  the  dreams  of  the  negro  are  specially  vivid,  nor  that  he 
attaches  more  importance  to  them  than  the  uneducated 
classes  in  Europe ;  on  the  contrary,  dreams  are  seldom  cited 
as  matters  of  importance,  and  not  mentioned  with  any  great 
frequency  in  march  en.  In  a  certain  number  of  cases  the 
diviner  is  appealed  to  for  an  explanation,  and,  if  necessary,  a 
means  of  averting  the  coming  evil ;  but  more  than  once  the 
words  "  only  a  dream"  have  been  used  by  my  informants ; 
and  the  inference  is  clear  that  they  are  not  confused  with  the 
waking  life  nor  regarded  as  necessarily  throwing  light  on  an 
invisible  world.  A  dream  of  teeth  falling  out  is  explained,  it 
is  true,  by  saying  that  bnsh  krifi  have  come  to  play  with 
you ;  and  if  a  crowd  comes  and  beats  you  in  your  dream,  it  is 
faiige,  a  magical  means  of  the  Kofo  Society  (see  p.  149)  with 
which  they  profess  to  kill  people.  It  is  also  held  that  dead 
people  come  to  a  man  in  a  dream  to  warn  or  encourage  him. 

Dreams  are  more  commonly  regarded  as  omens  without 
any  very  clear  idea  of  how  they  come  to  have  significance. 
A  dream  of  death  means  over-eating;  if  you  dream  of 
weeping  you  will  laugh ;  if  a  leopard  seizes  you  in  the  bush, 
your  child  will  be  a  boy;  a  crocodile  will  mean  a  girl.  To 
dream  of  a  house  burning  means  that  "  medicine  "  has  caught 
someone. 

Black  in  a  dream  is  bad  ;  a  white  man  in  a  dream  is  a 
krifi ;  but  to  dream  of  white,  clean  rice  means  the  death  of 
a  relative,  and  to  dream  of  white  shirting  means  that  some- 
one in  your  wife's  town  will  die. 

The  procedure  after  a  dream,  good  or  bad,  is  often  the  same 
as  that  adopted  in  waking  life  under  circumstances  resembling 
those  of  the  dream.  To  ward  off  evil,  egg-shells  may  be  put 
on  a  stick  and  the  satka  (?)  rite  performed,  after  which  they 
are  put  on  the  roof  of  the  house ;  the  dreamer  should  also 
pray  for  good  dreams. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  dream  of  strangers  bringing  luck, 
you  should  cook  rice  in  the  morning  and  give  it  away  that 
luck  may  come,  doubtless  as  a  result  of  the  prayers  of  the 
recipients  of  the  rice. 


Falling  and  flying  dreams,  so  common  with  us,  are  also 
known,  but  do  not  seem  to  have  any  special  significance. 
For  some  reason  they  are  known  as  fan  dreams  (more ma 
kate,me). 

To  dream  of  a  snake  means  that  a  man's  krifi  wants  to 
come  and  play  with  him  ;  all  people  have  their  own  krifi, 
according  to  one  informant,  and  some  get  rich  if  they  see 
them,  provided  they  do  not  tell  anyone. 

If  a  small  child  says  it  has  seen  a  krifi,  the  parents  will 
try  to  provide  a  sheep ;  if  a  man  gives  a  sheep  to  the  krifi, 
he  must  let  it  go  and  the  krifi  will  kill  it;  if  he  eats  of  it 
himself,  he  will  die. 

A  certain  number  of  dream  omens  correspond  with  those 
familiar  in  English  folk-lore  ;  a  "  spider  "  drumming  in  the 
ear  is  an  omen  (kador),  and  means  the  death  of  a  relative ; 
to  dream  of  a  tooth  falling  out  means  the  same,  more 
especially  of  an  old  woman  past  child-bearing.  A  curious 
feature  is  the  great  definiteness  of  some  of  the  predictions ',  a 
dream  of  deafness,  not  a  common  feature  in  dreams,  means 
the  death  of  the  father's  sister ;  of  blindness,  still  more 
uncommon,  the  death  of  the  father's  brother. 

A  dream  of  fowls  held  hanging  down  in  the  night  means 
that  a  wife's  relative,  will  die  ;  of  being  near  a  large  sheet  of 
water,  that  one  of  the  family  will  die ;  of  being  in  water  up 
to  the  neck,  that  a  "  big  man  "  will  die. 

Some  dreams  have  special  reference  to  twins,  though  twin 
births  are  by  no  means  common  ;  to  dream  of  a  person  with 
white  beads  passing  in  the  night  means  the  death  of  a  twin ; 
to  dream  of  planting  the  banana  (epnlot)  means  that  a  twin 
or  triplet  will  die,  for  when  twins  are  born,  beads  are  put  on 
their  necks,  and  these  bananas  are  planted  for  their  special 
use ,  if  a  man  or  woman  eat  these  bananas,  the  woman  will 
bear  twins. 

It  might  be  imagined  from  the  number  of  presages  of 
death  among  ominous  dreams  and  omens  generally,  that 
death  was  ever  present  in  the  negro's  mind,  and  that  lie  was 
full  of  the  gloomiest   forebodings.       In    point   of   fact,   the 


89 

mournful  nature  of  the  predictions  is  not  peculiar  to  the 
negro  system  of  omens ;  it  is  probably  not  very  different 
from  what  is  ordinarily  found  in  European  folk-lore. 

As  a  general  principle  of  interpretation  of  events,  one  of 
my  informants  laid  down  that  if  you  see  what  is  "  very  hard 
to  see " — i.e.,  an  unusual  sight — you  are  going  to  die  ;  and 
this  general  principle  is  also  common  to  many  omen- 
regarding  peoples. 

Some  applications  are  so  obvious  as  to  be  found  univer- 
sally ;  a  man  who  stumbles  and  falls  must  return  from  a 
quest  for  money,  for  he  will  be  unsuccessful.  Other  mishaps 
of  frequent  occurrence,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  heeded  by 
many  people  ;  an  informant  who  said  that  knocking  one's 
foot  and  cutting  it  on  a  big  stone  meant  the  death  of  a 
relative  aroused  some  dissent  among  those  who  were  listening. 

In  the  main,  omens  seem  to  be  drawn  from  the  animal 
kingdom:  in  the  case  of  vegetables  only  monstrosities  have 
any  significance,  such  as  a  pumpkin  (a kali)  growing  with 
the  fruit  upwards  instead  of  hanging  down,  a  calabash  seed 
producing  both  calabash  and  pumpkin. 

If  anyone  sees  the  alisa  (two-headed  snake,  said  to  be  the 
king  of  the  driver  ants)  in  the  day,  he  or  a  relative  will  die. 

Seeing  anrof  (litis  nasicornis)  in  a  tree  or  in  the  day,  or 
akande  (a  tree  snake)  on  the  ground,  is  also  an  omen  of 
death. 

A  bush  buck  or  wild  pig  in  the  town  is  an  omen  of  death  : 
"  baboons"  (probably  chimpanzee)  in  the  dry  season  mean 
the  death  of  an  old  man. 

A  porcupine  or  chevrotain  seen  in  the  day  is  a  death 
omen. 

If  you  see  the  young  of  a  green  pigeon,  a  relative  will  die 
in  a  day  or  a  week  or  a  year ;  the  young  of  birds  are  seldom 
seen. 

If  a  plantain  eater  (okuru)  stands  on  the  bare  ground,  a 
relative  will  die ;  it  always  perches  on  a  tree. 

Birds  known  as  atompete  and  kaporam  near  a  town 
mean  death. 


90 

Domestic  fowls  naturally  give  omens ;  a  hen  crowing  like 
a  cock  in  the  morning  means  the  death  of  a  woman  ;  some 
people  kill  the  hen.  If  a  hen  crows  several  times,  the  owner 
offers  it  anything  it  will  eat  and  gives  it  away  after  praying  ; 
then  only  one  person  will  die. 

If  a  fowl  hatches  two  chicks  from  one  egg,  one  of  the 
family  will  die ;  if  a  fowl  dies  on  its  eggs,  the  head  of  the 
house  will  die. 

If  the  akbot  fish  cries  when  it  is  taken  out  of  the  water, 
a  relative  will  die.  A  crab  (kara)  seen  on  land  is  also 
ominous ;  if  a  man  eats  it,  he  will  faint  several  times,  but 
not  die. 

As  with  us,  the  ordinary  cries  of  domestic  animals  are 
recognised  as  significant ;  a  bull  that  walks  bellowing  round 
the  cattle  kraal  is  an  omen  of  death ;  so  is  a  yelping  dog 
that  "  crows  like  a  cock." 


Plate  X. 


^,v#  /  /m    at  . 


91 


X.— MARRIAGE. 

Compared  with  those  of  the  Nigerian  tribes,  the  marriage 
customs  of  Sierra  Leone  appear  to  be  extremely  simple.  Only 
one  form  of  marriage — by  purchase — is  known  ;  and  though 
the  wife  may  leave  her  husband,  when  she  has  borne  many 
children,  on  payment  of  one  kola,  her  position  corresponds  in 
reality  to  that  of  the  bond  wife  (amoia)  of  the  Edo-speaking 
peoples ;  for  her  children  belong  to  her  husband's  clan  and 
remain  his  property,  if  she  leaves  him,  though  one  informant 
was  of  opinion  that  a  wife  divorced  by  her  husband  could 
take  her  children  with  her. 

I  found  no  trace  of  any  anomalous  form  of  marriage  such 
as  those  described  among  the  Asaba  Ibo,  where  lack  of  heirs 
may  bring  about  a  temporary  matrilineal  rule  of  inheritance, 
or  even  inheritance  by  a  man  wholly  unrelated  in  blood  to 
the  person  whose  property  is  in  question. 

Such  variations  as  we  find  in  Sierra  Leone  marriage 
customs  appear  to  be  confined  to  those  features  naturally 
dependent  on  the  age  at  which  the  girl  is  first  demanded  in 
marriage  or  the  relation  of  her  father  to  the  suitor. 

Cross-cousin  marriages  and  other  special  forms  seem  to  be 
unknown  to  the  Timne ;  and  in  one  case  I  was  assured  that 
most  first  cousins  (father's  brother's  or  sister's  daughter  or 
mother's  sister's  daughter)  were  not  eligible  wives,  though  a 
mother's  brother's  daughter  might  be  chosen  ;  the  reason  for 
this  difference  in  the  treatment  of  cousins  I  did  not  ascertain. 
It  is  clearly  not  due  to  the  rule  of  clan  exogamy,  now  falling 
into  desuetude  ;  for  both  the  mother's  brother's  daughter  and 
the  father's  sister's  daughter  would  be  eligible  under  this 
rule  ;  and  the  mother's  sister's  daughter  would  be  ineligible 
only  if  she  married  a  man  of  the  same  clan  as  the  mother 
herself. 


92 

This  information  was  given  me  by  a  Mohammedan , 
another  informant,  also  a  Mohammedan,  confirmed  it  at  a 
town  distant  several  days'  march,  and  added  that  the  mother's 
elan  was  not  forbidden ;  the  rule  cannot  therefore  depend 
upon  anv  idea,  whether  newly  introduced  or  surviving  into 
patrilineal  conditions,  that  the  mother's  totem  is  a  bar  to 
marriage. 

Marriage  between  the  grandchildren  of  two  sisters,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  not  forbidden. 

Widows  being  a  form  of  property,  it  is  not  surprising  to 
find  that  marriage  with  the  father's  brother's  wife  is  possible; 
it  is  less  easy  to  explain  why  a  man  should  wed  his  mother's 
brother's  wife  or  his  mother's  father's  wife  (not,  of  course, 
his  own  grandmother);  instances  of  both  occurred  in  the 
genealogies  collected. 

In  the  case  of  a  widow  (see  also  p.  127),  when  the  period 
of  mourning  is  over,  each  woman  cooks  separately  and  brings 
her  food  with  the  words,  "  I  finish  cooking  to-day  " ;  she 
gives  one  kola  to  her  late  husband's  family  and,  bidding 
them  good-bye,  returns  to  her  parents.  At  night  if  they 
want  the  woman  back,  each  brother  of  the  deceased  sends  a 
message ;  a  sister  takes  the  kola  back,  together  with  some 
shillings'  worth  of  tobacco,  and  asks  for  the  woman  ;  she  sleeps 
one  night  in  her  parents'  house  and  then  returns. 

It  by  no  means  follows  that  this  custom  is  a  reminiscence 
of  a  time  when  a  woman  left  her  husband's  family  when  he 
died ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  becoming  easier  now  for  a  woman 
to  get  her  freedom,  unless  appearances  are  deceptive.  If  the 
departure  of  the  widow  were  the  real  explanation,  the  simple 
recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  husband's  family  implied  by 
the  payment  of  the  kola  would  not  be  easy  to  explain  ;  for  if 
they  were  originally  not  recognised,  and  subsequently  their 
claims  were  acquiesced  in,  it  is  improbable  that  the  payment 
would  have  been  so  small  as  one  kola.  Either  the  right 
would  have  remained  unrecognised,  or  a  larger  payment 
would  have  been  made.  It  is  far  more  probable  that  this 
payment  of  one  kola  is  symbolic,  indicating  that  relations 


93 

with  the  husband's  family  are  broken  off;  it  is,  in  fact, 
merely  another  form  of  the  cooking  rite  and  the  verbal 
declaration.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  some  places 
one  kola  is  sent  to  the  chief  to  announce  a  death  in  his  town 
or  chiefdom. 

As  to  the  object  of  the  rite,  bearing  in  mind  that  the 
purpose  of  most  of"  the  ritual  of  mourning  is  to  safeguard 
the  widow  from  the  ghost  of  the  dead  husband  or  from  his 
malevolent  intentions,  it  seems  that  this  separation  of  the 
widow  from  the  husband's  family  may  be  merely  another 
means  of  deceiving  the  ghost  of  the  dead  man  and  ensuring 
that  she  will  not  be  troubled  in  her  new  marriage. 

With  a  view  of  appeasing  the  dead  man,  sacrifices  are  also 
offered  to  him  by  the  second  husband. 

In  some  places  it  appears  to  be  not  unusual  for  a  widow  to 
leave  her  husband's  family ;  and  a  payment  of  £1  is  made  in 
such  cases. 

When  a  woman  has  left  her  husband,  or  been  driven  out 
by  him  and  goes  to  a  new  husband,  he  usually  pays  bride- 
price  to  the  former,  otherwise  circumstances  determine 
whether  the  parents  repay  the  first  husband  or  not. 

He  seems  to  have  no  claim  when  he  has  turned  his  wife 
out  of  the  house ;  but  his  wife  must  leave  behind  what  she 
earned  in  the  husband's  house  ;  one  informant  thought  a 
wife  could  take  such  property  with  her.  When  the  wife  has 
taken  the  initiative,  the  husband  seems  to  have  a  right  to 
the  money,  but  is  sometimes  too  proud  to  stand  upon  his 
rights,  and  will  sometimes  abandon  them  if  the  woman  has 
been  a  hard  worker. 

As  to  the  right  to  the  woman's  property,  there  seems  to  be 
a  good  deal  of  uncertainty ;  some  informants  held  that  a 
runaway  could  take  what  her  parents  gave  her  and  her 
husband's  presents  ;  others  that  she  can  claim  what  she  earned 
(probably  by  trading)  in  her  husband's  house ;  others  that 
her  husband's  ill-treatment  gives  her  a  right  to  her  property 
if  she  has  been  a  hard  worker,  provided  always  that  she  has  no 
children  ;  others  again  that  she  will  get  nothing  if  she  has  no 


94 

child,  but  may  get  something  as  an  act  of  grace  if  she  has  a 
child,  provided  she  has  not  given  her  husband  reason  to  send 
her  away. 

One  informant  thought  that  a  wife  expelled  by  her 
husband  could  claim  her  children.  But  nothing  supported 
the  view  that  this  is  a  general  rule. 

A  husband  might  "swear"  before  "  medicine  "  if  he  did  not 
wish  his  wife  to  go  ;  then  all  her  children  would  die. 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  underlying  idea  in  most  of  these  cases  ; 
even  the  contradictory  rulings  as  to  the  child-bearing  woman 
can  readily  be  reconciled  when  we  consider  that  the  property 
left  behind  is  what  is  recognised  as  hers  by  her  husband,  and 
what  is  given  to  her  if  she  has  borne  a  child  is  given  as  a 
recognition  of  the  service  she  has  done  her  husband  in  this 
respect,  not  because  the  article  given  was  in  any  sense  hers. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  question  has  arisen  comparatively 
recently  and  that  there  is  no  generally  accepted  rule.  This 
confirms  what  has  been  said  as  to  the  position  of  the  widow. 

Apart  from  marriage  of  widows  or  of  a  woman  who  has 
left  her  husband,  a  by  no  means  infrequent  occurrence,  a  man 
gets  a  wife  either  by  making  application  for  her  when  she  is 
a  small  child,  or  by  approaching  her  when  she  is  near  the 
age  of  marriage.  The  father  may  give  her  to  one  of  his 
friends,  as  a  special  favour,  or  the  suitor  may  make  use  of  a 
go-between,  who  may  be  a  sister,  head  wife,  mother,  father, 
elder  brother,  or  good  friend ;  the  go-between  usually  deals 
with  the  parents  of  the  child  direct,  but  may  be  conducted 
to  them  in  the  first  instance  by  another  member  of  the 
girl's  family.  The  go-between  is  frequently  the  intermediary 
in  payment  of  bride-price. 

As  an  example  of  the  marriage  customs  of  the  Timne  may 
be  taken  an  account  given  me  at  Eobunki  near  Mayosn. 

When  a  girl  is  five  or  six  years  old  the  suitor  takes  kola 
to  her  mother  and  the  mother  tells  the  father ;  he  also  gives 
cloth  to  the  girl  to  make  her  well  disposed  to  him.  At  an 
early  period  the  girl  may  go  to  stay  with  her  suitor,  who  sends 
back  rice,  a  fowl,  and  four  heads  of  tobacco  for  the  mother. 


95 

The  suitor  interviews  the  girl's  father  and  gives  him  four 
shillings,  after  which  the  girl  is  promised.  When  the  child 
has  grown  up,  the  suitor's  sister  takes  £1  10s.  "  to  make 
the  child  friendly  " ;  she  interviews  the  mother's  sister,  who 
takes  her  to  see  the  parents  ;  the  father  receives  the  money 
and  gives  some  to  the  mother. 

When  the  parents  send  to  the  suitor  to  say  that  the  girl 
is  going  to  Bundu,  the  messenger  takes  one  kola ;  the 
suitor  tells  his  sister  and  provides  four  fowls,  four  mats,  four 
shillings'  worth  of  tobacco,  a  "  hamper "  of  rice  and  cloth. 
This  is  handed  over  to  the  girl's  mother's  sister  for  the  people 
who  look  after  the  girl.  He  also  provides  for  the  girl  a  goatr 
ten  shillings'  worth  of  beads,  a  dozen  waist-beads,  gold 
earrings,  cloth,  a  head  kerchief,  rice,  and  palm  oil. 

When  the  suitor  is  informed  that  the  girl  is  out  of  Bundu, 
he  sends  his  sister  with  two  shillings  to  say  that  the  girl 
should  pay  him  a  visit  ;  her  mother's  sister  brings  herr 
accompanied  by  the  suitor's  sister  ;  the  suitor  informs  his 
parents  of  her  coming. 

In  the  night  the  girl  goes  to  the  suitor's  room  for  an  hour, 
but  cohabitation  should  not  take  place ;  then  she  returns  to 
her  mother's  sister.  When  they  go  home,  five  shillings  is  sent 
for  the  father,  and  four  shillings'  worth  of  cloth  for  the  mother. 

After  the  girl  is  out  of  Bundu  a  whole  year  elapses  before 
matters  come  to  a  head.  Then  the  bride-price — £4  and  eight 
pieces  of  cloth — is  paid;  country  cloth  was  formerly  the 
currency ;  and  even  now  it  is  said  that  if  a  man  pays  cash 
only,  his  wife  will  not  sit  long  in  his  house.  The  suitor's 
sister  takes  this  in  the  night  because  "  in  the  morning,  it 
is  not  good  to  talk  about  marriage ;  in  the  night  every 
thought  goes  to  one  place."  In  the  morning  she  asks  for 
the  girl. 

The  parents  provide  four  mats,  a  sheep,  four  fowls,  two 
"  hampers  "  of  rice,  a  box  of  cloth,  basins,  fans,  and  a  cup. 
The  mother's  sister  and  father's  brother  act  as  conductors  to 
the  girl  and  receive  four  bottles  of  gin  and  two  shillings' 
worth  of  tobacco.     In  the  evening  they  announce  that  they 


96 

have  brought  the  woman,  and  say  they  have  said  good-bye 
to  the  old  people ;  the  dowry  is  then  enumerated,  and  the 
conductors  say  they  have  brought  the  girl  for  the  sake  of  the 
suitor's  "  big  people."  If  she  misbehaves,  he  must  report  to 
them ;  if  you  warn  her  and  she  does  not  obey,  her  mother 
will  tell  her  that  she  is  trying  to  shame  her. 

Then  the  girl  is  handed  over  to  the  suitor's  sister,  who 
conducts  her  to  his  room.  If  she  is  found  to  be  a  virgin, 
proved  by  the  exhibition  of  the  cloth,  a  dance  is  held,  the 
conductors  receive  presents  and  a  sheep  is  killed  in  the 
morning.  Eventually  "  virgin  money,"  from  6s.  to  21s.,  is 
paid  to  the  mother. 

When  the  conductors  return  they  take  cloth  for  the  mother 
and  ten  shillings  for  the  father. 

During  the  period  before  marriage  the  suitor  hires 
labour  and  assists  the  girl's  father  in  farm  work ;  the  cost  is, 
however,  not  heavy,  as  four  shillings  will  secure  the  services 
of  twenty  men  or  more. 

If  the  girl  refuses  her  husband  when  she  grows  up,  the 
suitor  reckons  all  the  payments  and  the  parents  refund  the 
money. 

If  the  girl  dies  before  marriage,  it  is  usual  for  another  girl 
in  the  same  house  to  be  assigned  to  the  suitor ;  this  involves 
a  certain  amount  of  additional  expenditure,  mainly,  it  seems, 
to  satisfy  the  girl's  claims. 

If  the  wife  visits  her  parents  after  marriage,  her  husband 
sends  one  shilling's  worth  of  tobacco  to  recall  her ;  she  brings 
back  a  fowl,  rice,  and  palm  oil. 

If  the  husband  dies  and  leaves  no  brother,  the  wife  returns 
to  her  parents  with  her  children,  unless  he  left  property  ;  in 
that  case  she  remains  in  his  house  and  takes  care  of  the 
property. 

If  the  husband  turns  the  wife  out,  she  may  take  her 
ornaments  but  nothing  else,  but  the  husband  cannot  claim 
repayment  of  the  bride-price  (see  also  p.  93). 

If  another  husband  approaches  the  woman,  she  refers  him 
to  her  parents ;    he  sends  ten  shillings  and  three  shillings' 


Plate  XL 


97 

worth  of  tobacco  and  asks  if  she  has  no  husband.  If  the 
money  is  not  sent  back  he  prepares  to  pay  the  price,  which 
is  less  than  that  paid  originally.  The  woman  comes  to  the 
husband  without  conductors  and  he  sends  his  sister  with 
twenty  shillings  as  bride-price. 

The  parents  send  six  shillings'  worth  of  rice,  two  mats, 
two  bottles  of  palm  oil  and  some  fowls.  They  say  she  must 
behave  herself  or  she  will  be  driven  out  again ;  if  so  they 
will  refuse  bride-price  in  future,  and  that  would  be  shameful 
for  her. 

If  no  price  is  paid  and  the  woman  simply  lives  with  him, 
he  may  keep  her  children,  but  if  he  does  not  treat  the 
mother  well,  they  will  leave  him  and  become  "  children  of  the 
street,"  i.e.,  follow  their  mother.  If  a  daughter  married,  her 
price  would  not  go  to  the  father  unless  the  mother  chose. 
The  children  are  really  the  property  of  their  mother's  father ; 
but  he  may  refuse  to  accept  a  granddaughter's  bride-price,  as 
she  may  cause  trouble  like  her  mother. 

The  sons  live  with  the  maternal  grandfather  and  work 
for  him,  and  he  gets  wives  for  them  ;  they  could  inherit 
property  from  him,  both  because  they  work  for  him  and  in 
right  of  their  mother. 

If  a  wife  leaves  her  husband,  the  price  is  repaid  unless  she 
has  children.  If  she  goes  straight  to  another  husband,  the 
latter  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  £4  for  adultery. 

The  customs  with  regard  to  virginity  differ  from  place  to 
place ;  a  cassava  leaf  may  be  put  on  the  rice  of  a  seduced 
girl  and  she  remains  with  her  husband  instead  of  being  sent 
home  for  four  days  and  brought  back  by  conductors.  The 
seducer  will  be  called  on  to  pay  "  virgin  money,"  and  if  the 
parents  dislike  the  man  a  fine  of  a  cow  in  addition.  If  the 
suitor  is  himself  responsible,  there  is  no  palaver  unless  the 
girl  has  not  reached  puberty,  in  which  case  he  pays  a  fine 
of  £4. 

Elsewhere  the  husband  may  claim  £4  from  the  seducer 
and  pay  "  virgin  money  "  from  this  to  the  father,  who  shares 
it  with  his  wife. 

H 


98 

The  girl  must  name  her  seducer;  it  is  mas  am  for  her 
to  deny  it ;  a  virgin,  it  is  said,  conceives  soon,  and  childbirth 
is  easy. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  recognised  bride-price  ;  the 
amount  paid  depends  on  the  position  of  the  bride's  family  in 
part,  in  part  on  the  suitor's  pocket ;  the  amounts  named  to 
me  have  varied  from  £2  to  £20  :  in  each  case  a  varying  sum, 
£5  or  more,  would  be  required  for  "  expenses." 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  wealth  of  a 
family  is  necessarily  increased  by  an  increase  in  the  price ; 
the  informant  who  named  £20  as  the  price  added  that  the 
father  and  mother  would  send  with  the  bride  a  cow,  pots, 
cloth,  mugs,  basins,  spoons,  brooms,  mortars  and  pestles,  and  a 
small  girl  as  servant;  this  would  naturally  mean  a  considerable 
deduction  from  the  £20.  In  one  case  where  the  husband 
paid  £10,  which  he  obtained  from  the  earnings  of  another 
wife  for  whom  he  had  paid  £2,  a  dowry  of  £40  was  said  (by 
a  member  of  the  wife's  family)  to  have  been  sent  with  her. 
The  marriage  turned  out  unfortunately,  as  in  three  days 
poison,  administered  by  the  other  wife,  carried  off  the  bride. 
The  actual  cause  of  the  crime  was  not  so  much  jealousy,  as 
a  quarrel  with  the  husband  over  the  supply  of  water.  The 
criminal  had  been  flogged  for  abusing  the  husband's  mother. 

Some  people  send  fish  with  their  daughter  also,  to  be 
placed  in  the  stream,  so  that  she  can  claim  to  fish  there  by 
right. 

A  share  of  the  bride-price  is  often  given  to  the  mother. 

When  any  of  his  wife's  relatives  die,  a  son-in-law  is 
required  to  make  certain  payments,  and  ask  for  the  return  of 
his  wife,  who  goes  back  to  her  father's  house.  At  the  death 
of  a  sister  or  brother  he  may  take  a  present  of  £1,  two 
mats,  and  two  pieces  of  cloth  ;  for  the  mother  £2,  a  goat, 
and  a  hamper  of  rice  ;  for  the  father  the  same,  together  with 
ten  shillings  to  console  his  mother-in-law.  If  the  mother- 
in-law  marries  again,  he  will  continue  to  work  for  her  new 
husband,  though  he  may  perhaps  not  be  of  the  same 
family. 


99 

These  duties  of  the  son-in-law  are  incumbent  on  him  even 
though  he  has  not  yet  taken  his  wife  home. 

If  a  girl  refuses  to  go  to  her  husband,  a  diviner  is 
employed  in  some  places  to  discover  if  another  man  has 
"  coaxed  "  her. 

In  some  cases  the  whole  price  is  not  repaid,  in  case 
another  girl  can  be  found  in  the  same  family  ;  but  this  is 
not  the  case  if  another  man  has  been  persuading  her  ;  where 
it  is  simple  disinclination,  only  the  bride-price  is  repaid; 
otherwise  all  "  expenses  "  and  presents. 

Some  girls  resist  their  conductors  and  are  tied  with  ropes 
to  be  taken  to  their  husbands;  they  are  called  afam 
abasibala,  persons  who  hate  marriage. 

Some  men  refuse  to  ask  for  the  return  of  bride-price  when 
the  girl  refuses  to  come  to  them  :  they  say  they  "  leave  it 
to  God." 

It  seems  to  be  recognised  that  the  money  of  a  wife  who 
remains  with  her  husband  is  her  own,  and  that  if  she  hands 
it  to  him  it  is  a  loan,  unless  she  is  willing  to  make  it  a 
gift.  In  one  case  a  woman,  Kina,  who  brought  up  a  young 
sister  by  her  own  father,  received  the  bride-price  of  the 
woman's  only  daughter;  as  Kina  bought  a  wife  for  the  son, 
the  money  was  probably  exhausted,  but  I  was  told  that  her 
son  received  the  balance  and  that  at  his  death  it  passed  to 
his  father's  family,  as  his  children  died  young. 

If  a  husband  demands  money  and  does  not  repay,  a  woman 
will  complain  to  her  brother  and  the  brother  will  expostulate 
with  the  husband. 

If  the  wife  dies,  however,  the  rights  of  the  husband  may 
be  recognised,  especially  if  he  has  treated  her  well ;  he  may 
take  half  her  property,  if  she  is  childless,  the  other  half 
going  to  her  parents. 

A  wife  can  take  her  husband's  money  to  purchase  food ; 
but  she  must  inform  his  family  before  or  after.  A  husband 
should  leave  food  for  his  wife. 

Various  causes  are  recognised  as  a  justification  of  divorce : 
idleness,  theft,  slandering  the  husband,  or  doing  witchcraft 

H  2 


100 

in  the  house.  But  these  are  regarded  as  among  the  ordinary 
mishaps  of  married  life  and  a  husband  cannot  claim  the 
refund  of  the  bride-price :  any  tines,  however,  that  he  is 
compelled  to  pay  unjustly  are  repayable  by  the  parents.  If 
the  woman  goes  to  another  husband,  the  children  are  his. 

In  sunic  places  the  wife  can  take  her  children  with  her,  if 
her  husband  divorces  her.  Where  a  wife  leaves  her  husband 
voluntarily,  the  children  of  a  second  husband  are  the  property 
of  the  first  husband  unless  bride-price  has  been  repaid,  or 
she  has  gone  to  Freetown. 

Adultery  with  a  wife's  sister  may  result  in  the  wife  being- 
taken  away:  but  she  may  be  restored  after  payment  of  a  fine 
of  £5  or  £6. 

Impotence  is  a  good  ground  for  divorce  on  the  part  of  the 
wife  ;  but  the  price  must  be  repaid.  Before  the  divorce  is 
allowed,  however,  a  trial  must  be  made,  for  it  may  be  a  case 
of  witchcraft ;  hence  a  man's  ill-success  with  his  own  wife  is 
followed  by  another  trial  with  a  woman  who  has  no  husband. 

Sickness  is  a  recognised  cause  of  impotence,  and  some  men 
appear  to  be  either  impotent  or  inverts  ;  in  one  case  that 
was  mentioned  a  man  of  thirty  ran  away  the  day  before  he 
was  to  receive  a  wife  from  the  chief. 

Adultery  in  the  case  of  a  wife  was  formerly  punished  by 
shaving  her  head  and  beating  her,  and  for  frequent  offences 
a  wife  might  be  handed  to  the  chief  to  be  sold.  The 
co-respondent  is  now  fined  £4,  or  more  or  less  according  to 
the  fancy  of  the  husband  ;  a  "  good  "  man  may  be  satisfied 
with  a  pot  worth  four  shillings. 

Susu. — The  bride-price  appears  to  be  less  important  than 
in  other  areas.  Sometimes  a  girl  is  given  to  a  suitor  in 
return  for  work  only.  The  work  continues  as  long  as  the 
wife  lives.  In  Somaia,  I  was  assured,  the  suitor's  payment 
is  only  a  gift ;  but  this  was  hardly  borne  out  by  the  state- 
ment as  to  the  payment  for  widows. 

When  a  price  is  paid,  the  father  may  get  one-fifth  ;  other 
shares  go  to  the  mother,  father's  father  and  mother,  brothers, 
etc.,  mother's  mother,  and  so  on. 


101 

Cross-cousin  marriage  is  the  rule. 

If  a  wife  runs  to  another  man,  the  chief  may  compel 
him  to  repay  the  price  to  the  original  husband ;  but  the 
children  still  belong  to  the  first  husband  and  she  is  buried  by 
her  father  ;  if  the  man  to  whom  she  ran  buried  her,  he  might 
be  heavily  fined.  A  widow  goes  to  the  husband's  brother : 
he  pays  24s.  to  her  family.  Some  widows,  if  not  all,  may 
return  to  their  own  families  and  marry  whom  they  please. 
The  properly  of  a  childless  widow  goes  to  her  own  family. 
An  old  widow  may  live  with  an  adult  son  ;  but  she  is  given 
as  a  wife  to  an  old  man,  that  they  may  pray  on  her  when 
she  dies  ;  for  they  cannot  pray  on  a  husbandless  woman.  A 
woman  divorced  by  her  husband  also  takes  a  "husband" 
who  will  pray  for  her. 

Loko. — The  suitor  gives  a  ring  to  the  mother,  one  head  of 
tobacco  to  the  father,  as  a  preliminary,  and  goes  in  person, 
alone.  He  shares  Bundu  expenses  with  the  parents  and 
when  the  girl  comes  out  she  goes  to  her  husband  at  once  ;  a 
go-between  receives  her  from  her  mother. 

The  bride-price  amounts  to  £5  or  £10  in  all :  but  payments 
seem  to  be  continued  even  after  marriage,  if  she  bears 
children,  until  the  husband  dies,  provided  the  children 
survive  :  if  the  widow  goes  to  the  husband's  brother,  he 
continue-  to  pay. 

A  man  may  not  eat  out  of  one  basin  with  his  father-in-law, 
nor  sleep  in  one  house  with  his  parents-in-law;  the  latter 
prohibition  applies  also  to  a  woman. 

Virgin  money  is  paid,  as  among  the  Tinme.  The  penalty 
for  seduction  is  £5,  the  same  as  for  adultery. 

A  woman  who  leaves  her  husband  can  take  what  she  has 
earned,  as  well  as  ornaments  given  by  her  husband. 

Limba. — The  marriage  customs  do  not  differ  in  any  essential 
particular  from  those  of  the  Timne ;  but  sometimes  the  husl  »and 
is  not  formally  introduced  to  the  girl's  family,  or  not  until 
she  is  of  age  to  many. 

Virgin  money  is  payable  and  the  seducer  is  liable  for  the 
payments  to  the  girl's  family  instead  of  the  husband. 


102 

In  case  of  adultery  the  husband  receives  from  ten  to 
thirty  canes  of  salt,  and  the  co-respondent  hands  him  a  fowl, 
which  he  may  not  eat ;  in  fact  the  husband's  family,  and  not 
the  husband  himself,  should  receive  the  compensation. 

When  a  wife  runs  away,  the  husband  can  claim  from  the 
parents  only  if  she  goes  to  another  husband  from  her 
father's  house  ;  otherwise  the  matter  goes  before  the  chief : 
nothing  could  be  claimed  in  respect  of  a  woman  who  had 
borne  a  child. 


MfShi 


wrjni 


W»... 


[w>'Il<U]   ... 


A 




i  )iapa    ... 

faj.iliuil.il.,. 

kunotu 


ba' 

la'       ... 


poentoq 


kenya . 


lonya  .. . 


- 

ny<jmo<) 


■ 
nguya 


. 


nkQFQ 

I 

■ 
■ 


■ 


■■  I 


■. 


I 
I  1/  S  | 

■ 


■ 
■ 

■ 


■ 


wqul 

paboki 
Itqki 

tori 

■ 


■ 


■ 

..     kMlllnlii' 


[„.!.] 
[„.!.•] 
[n.1,] 


. 


du 

ngnnjm 

adakt 

i.liii.  ti 

ndokr 

- 

( 

TUUt    ...   n-Lir. 

- 

ndognaa 

i  ■ 

probata?  t*  * 


KqKANKC 


l.nkn 


MjJHDI. 


awutamun  (]>I:i 
karebuiu  ... 


faninkara 

vauinkara 


komone   . 


mindQpqnkande . 

Wntill'        .  .  , 
hninpo,  fnle 


ink 

...  tela 

,., 

kumns    . 

faje,] 
lol; 

lok 

tamko 

ya 

... 

nomi 

lalo... 
demia 

lalo... 

tnamada      .  ,  m 

beni  ...  ki 

ii»-]iii;i  .    .  lit 

demia         ...  be 

demia  mbla  be 

nji-iu",  \iiin.  in 


njemo 
mbanya 


'lt;nil:nli;iM 

belakaie, 

linlYiil.-rli 


kaie, 


Famusieba 


Diamadi 

I'H.iim  i 
mamaili 


llJMll 

bilaiiiyi 

Ml, inn  i 


I'll.MIIYI 


bimbo 
kaiq 


l.iiai'i       ... 

■ 
■  ■ .  i . '  i  j  l  ■-  l  .  1 1  (e  i 

lllllM. '_'.,],,.    I  \    I 

I 

biramiu  u  (e) 
DimQgQne  (y) 
birankai ... 


ke$<jnq 

Qjl  tig 
kggQnq 

bin 

bin 

[1  ke;gQnD] 

kllgpKj ■",' 

kr^f   nyalin 


I 


nioffo  i  '*  father 

fA<  /■' ■■■  moth  i 


I   l/.N  , 


„,/.' 


a/An 


/./.'.  h  ..':  i '.  hmband 


husband's  broth*  >' ■  wifi 
parents.. . 


fathi  /■'■.  "''/> . 


brother's  wif  I  O.) 


daughter's  husband**  pa 


pauinkas 
mbq 

on'a  ion  i  //■>■  i  keke,  miu 

daiuffhtt  ■'■  cAtfd  (  1/  S  i  keke,  wan 

fought    '   rAt/d  i  m  S  | 

daughter**  fa  band  I  1/*.  i  .    mbitaii 

paninkas 
daiujhtei  -  Auatom/I  W.5.)      pakomane 


koina 

h q  I.. 1 1. 

I- a 

Yrlrlll.' 


kqmoni 
kqinqne 


KulMMlir 


Ink 


inaiii.i-l.i 
demia 
i 
lalo ... 

lalo 

lalo ... 
lalo... 
nyaha 

demia 

■■■ 

Ion]  ■,  •  ■ 

Iouya 

belakai*; 

demia,  mbla      kaifj     , 


Dtana  ... 

bunks ... 
mamadi 

g 
litaimi 


fetuQ  ... 


i  odt^em. 
ndqejena. 
i  ndQg/eiu. 


bekoha. 


103 


XI.— KINSHIP. 

At  present  three  kinds  of  kinship  systems  are  generally 
recognised : 

(a)  the  family  system,  which  is  the  normal  one  among 

European  peoples ; 

(b)  the  descriptive  system,  in  use  among  the  Semites, 

in  which  relationships  are  exactly  described,  as 
when  an  uncle,  for  example,  is  termed  father's 
brother,  or  mother's  brother,  so  that  no  ambiguity 
is  possible ;  and 

(c)  the  clan  system,  formerly  known  as  the  classificatory 

system,  in  which,  in  its  most  typical  form,  found 
in  Australia  and  other  places,  the  whole  of  a  tribe 
stands  in  (tribal)  relationship  to  each  member  of 
the  tribe,  and  the  same  term  is  applied  to  all  men 
of  a  given  tribal  status ;  so  that,  for  example,  a 
man's  own  father  is  not  necessarily  distinguished 
from  the  other  men  who  might  legally  marry  his 
mother. 

A  more  logical  nomenclature  would  recognise  two  main 
divisions,  family  and  clan  systems. 
Under  the  former  are  included  : 

(a)  the  descriptive  system,  in  which  all  relatives  receive 

names  that  show  their  precise  degree  of  kinship  to 
a  given  person  ; 

(b)  the  system,  in  which,  in  the  main,  the  terms  denote 

simple  relationship,  and  indicate  it  with  more  or 
less  accuracy,  but  are  intermingled  with  classifica- 
tory terms,  including  under  one  head  those  related 
through  males  and  females,  both  as  regards  (i)  the 


104 

parentage  of  the  given  person  {i.e.,  father  or  mother), 

and  (ii)  the  parentage  of  the  related  person  {i.e., 

whether  related  through   father   or   mother) ;    all 

terms,  however,  indicate  that  the  persons  denoted 

stand  in  the  same  degree  of  nearness  or  remoteness 

to  the  given  person  ;    thus  "  cousin "  is  always  a 

person  of  the  same  generation,  if  the  word  is  used 

accurately  ;    "  cousin  once  removed  "  indicates  the 

relationship  of  persons  in  different  generations  of  a 

degree  of  relationship  one  step  more  remote  than 

uncle  (or  aunt)  and  nephew. 

Finally    we    have    (c)    a    classificatory    form    in    which 

(i)  reciprocal  terms   are   used  between   people   of 

different    as    well  as  of  the  same  generation,  and 

(ii)   the    same   term   (non-reciprocal)   may   denote 

persons  whose  status  with  reference  to   the  given 

person  is  not  the  same,  e.g.,  wife's  mother  and  wife's 

sister. 

Properly   speaking   the   "  clan "  system   is   based  on  the 

division  of  the  community  into  two  exogamous  sections,  and 

the    nomenclature,    modified    by   matrimonial    customs    and 

other  social  factors,  is  based  on  this  fact. 

How  far  we  can  trace  any  of  the  features  of  the  family 
systems  to  the  same  cause  is  open  to  question  ;  there  is  no 
prima  facie  ground  for  maintaining  a  genetic  relation  between 
(i)  a  system  based  originally  on  the  separation  of  generations 
and  the  distinction  between  father's  brother's  wife  and 
mother's  brother's  wife,  to  take  only  one  example,  and  (ii)  a 
system  in  which  generations  are  frequently  classed  together 
and  the  same  name  is  applied  to  the  wives  of  the  father's 
and  mother's  brothers.  The  latter  circumstance  is  clearly 
due  to  the  fact  that  both  were  or  are  eligible  spouses  for  the 
given  person,  if  a  male  is  in  question,  and  this  is  a  condition 
that  cannot  possibly  prevail  in  a  dichotomous  society. 

It  is  at  least  equally  probable  that  the  social  organisation 
was  not  originally  dichotomous,  as  that  a  dichotomous  system 
has  been   so  completely   subverted  and  reorganised,   as  to 


105 

contain  features  utterly  irreconcileable    with   the    original 
basis. 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  notice  that  in  America 
the  so-called  "  loose  "  organisation  is  well  recognised  and  has 
not,  so  far,  been  traced  back  to  an  earlier  stage.  Nor  yet  have 
any  traces  been  found  of  a  primary  dichotomous  organisation 
in  West  Africa,  But  it  is  clear  that  the  presence  of  a  num- 
ber of  totem  clans,  even  with  the  rule  of  exogamy,  would  not 
give  us  the  same  kinship  system  as  a  dichotomous  organisation. 
Prima  facie,  totemic  exogamy  with,  possibly,  a  prohibition  of 
marriage  into  the  mother's  clan,  would  develop  its  own  form 
of  kinship  terminology. 

The  kinship  systems  in  use  in  Sierra  Leone  are  of  the 
family  type,  but  so  far  classificatory  that  a  number  of  kinsfolk 
are  included  under  the  same  name,  e.g.,  brother,  whose  actual 
kinship  status  is  not  uniform  ;  in  one  case,  the  father's  father's 
sister  and  her  daughter  were  addressed  as  "mother"  and 
"sister."  In  Timne  the  father's  brother's  wife  is  yafet 
(small  wife)  and  the  reciprocal  is  pabaki  (boy) ;  a  boy  applies 
precisely  the  same  term  to  his  own  father's  wife,  who 
normally  goes  to  her  husband's  brother,  but  sometimes  marries 
his  sister's  son,  brother's  son,  or  father's  brother. 

The  same  term,  yafet,  is  applied  to  the  mother's  brother's 
wife,  and  the  reciprocal  is  pawos  (husband) ;  here  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  reciprocal  represents  the  actual  relationship  ; 
in  two  cases  in  my  genealogies  the  wife  of  the  mother's 
brother  was  married. 

If  we  turn  to  the  term  ntene  (father's  sister,  mother's- 
sister),  we  find  the  same  contradiction  in  the  reciprocals  ;  the 
father's  sister  calls  the  brother's  child  pabaki,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  could  ever  marry  ;  the  mother's 
sister  calls  the  sister's  son  pawos  ;  the  obvious  inference  is 
that  the  sister's  son  can  marry  the  ntene,  but  the  genealogies 
gave  this  no  support.  It  is  perhaps  worthy  of  note  that  the 
father's  sister  is  known  as  nt^ne  both  to  Susu  and  Koranko, 
while  the  mother's  sister  is  nga  or  nadogoma  (mother),  and 
that  in  Koranko  the  term  is  reciprocal.     Perhaps  this  goes  to- 


106 

show  that  marriage  with  the  nte,ne  is  forbidden  and  that  the 
Tinme  extended  the  term  to  the  mother's  sister  when  marriage 
with  her  was  forbidden.  At  any  rate  the  word  nt^ne, 
according  to  French  authors,  means  "  forbidden,"  and  is  the 
name  given  to  the  totem. 

The  nse  of  the  term  yafet,  for  a  woman  who  is  marriage- 
able under  certain  circumstances,  is  paralleled  by  the  Mendi 
terminology;  nje  wulo  (small  mother)  is  used  of  the  father's 
brother's  wife,  though  she  is  certainly  marriageable.  The 
simple  term  nje  (mother)  is  used  of  the  father's  and 
mother's  sisters  and  mother's  brother's  wife,  who  are  not 
marriageable.  In  the  same  way  ke  (father)  is  used  of  the 
father's  sister's  husband,  and  mother's  sister's  husband, 
who  may  not  marry  their  nieces,  though  ke  wulo  is 
applied  to  the  father's  brother,  who  lies  under  the  same 
restriction. 

In  Bulgm  the  father's  and  mother's  brothers'  wives  are  la 
(wife)  with  reciprocal  po  (husband),  and  the  nephew  is  the 
recognised  second  husband.  The  father's  and  mother's 
brothers  are  kenya,  and  this  is  the  M^ndi  term  for  the 
mother's  brother ;  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Mqndi 
prohibition  is  regarded  as  of  less  weight  in  the  case  of  the 
mother's  brother's  wife. 

It  appears  to  be  the  Limba  custom  for  the  brother's  son 
to  marry  the  father's  brother's  widow  (yenina  oyyt).  The 
mother's  sister  is  namoye,t  (small  mother),  but  the  reciprocal, 
fati  oyet  (small  son),  does  not  indicate  any  custom  of 
marriage. 

In  connection  with  all  those  cases  where  the  mother's 
sister  is  termed  "  small  mother,"  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  death  of  the  mother,  in  all  tribes  except  among  the 
Me,ndi,  permits  the  father  to  espouse  the  wife's  sister,  though 
he  may  not  do  so  in  the  mother's  lifetime. 

Finally  we  have  the  Koranko,  who  speak  of  the  mother's 
brother's  wife  as  yanane  (wife)  with  the  same  word  as 
reciprocal,  according  to  my  informant.  This  indicates  a 
custom  of  marriage  with  the  mother's  brother's  widow. 


107 

There  is  no  trace  in  the  kinship  terms  of  any  custom  of 
marrying  into  an  older  generation  still,  but  one  case  is 
recorded  in  the  genealogies  in  which  a  man  married  his 
mother's  father's  wife. 

Descent  is  reckoned  in  the  male  line,  and  there  are  no  clear 
traces  of  the  existence  of  matrilocal  marriage,  though  some 
■of  the  birth  customs  (see  p.  108)  seem  to  suggest  it. 


108 


XII— BIRTH,    TWINS,   CIRCUMCISION. 

The  birth  customs  are  on  the  whole  exceedingly  simple, 
the  main  feature  of  interest  being  the  fact  that  the  wife 
appears  to  go  back  to  her  father's  house  for  parturition  and 
has  t<>  be  brought  back  by  sending  a  present  to  the  father  and 
mother  :  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  the  husband's  sisters 
conduct  her  when  she  leaves  her  husband's  house  a  month 
before  the  expected  event,  it  would  be  natural  to  interpret 
the  custom  as  a  survival  from  a  matrilineal  period. 

Under  the  circumstances,  especially  as  presents  are  required 
from  the  son-in-law  when  the  wife  visits  her  parents  on  other 
occasions,  it  seems  at  most  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
wife  has  done  what  was  expected  of  her,  and  that  thanks  are 
due  in  some  degree  to  her  parents.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  a  present  to  the  wife's  parents  is  by  no  means  a  rare 
ceremony,  even  when  the  wife  remains  in  her  husband's  house. 
If  the  present  to  the  parents  represented  a  repurchase  of  the 
wife,  we  should  expect  either  that  the  child  would  be  found  to 
belong  to  the  wife's  family,  or  that  there  was  a  formal  pur- 
chase of  it,  or,  at  the  very  least,  that  some  trace  of  matrilineal 
conditions  would  be  found  in  the  customs  of  inheritance,  but 
none  of  these  conditions  are  fulfilled. 

A  child  is  usually  born  in  the  bush  :  and  after  an  interval 
the  wife  comes  to  rokulu,at  the  back  of  the  house  ;  when  she 
conies  back,  no  man  should  see  her  on  the  road.  The  woman 
may  come  outside,  but  the  child  must  remain  within  ;  it  is 
masom  to  bring  it  out,  though  some  informants  stated  that  the 
child  was  not  in  any  way  tabu  and  might  be  seen  at  anytime, 
even  while  the  mother  was  secluded. 

The  husband's  sister  is  sent  to  him  to  announce  the  birth 
of  the  child  and  he  prepares  food  and  other  presents  for  his 


109 

wife  and  the  women  who  aided  her  :  this  may,  however,  be 
deferred,  apparently,  until  the  return  from  the  bush,  if  the 
woman  remains  there  for  any  length  of  time. 

The  husband  can  see  his  wife  and  child  on  the  second  or 
any  subsequent  day,  even  when  the  child  must  not  be  brought 
out  before  the  sixth  day,  which  is  the  date  on  which  the  navel 
string  is  expected  to  fall.  This  points  to  a  belief  that  the 
seclusion  is  due,  not  to  any  danger  from  the  child  but  to  it 
possibly  from  witches  or  bad  krifi. 

The  cord  is  cut  with  a  knife  oretanke  grass.  The  placenta 
is  simply  thrown  in  the  bush  or  buried  near  the  cooking  place ; 
the  cord,  on  the  other  hand,  when  it  drops  off,  is  sometimes 
kept,  but  is  more  often  given  to  the  husband  to  bury  with  a 
kola  nut ;  the  tree  which  grows  from  it  belongs  to  the  child. 
The  kola  tree  should  not  be  damaged,  but  injury  to  it  would 
not  do  any  harm  to  the  child. 

In  some  places,  when  the  child  is  to  be  brought  into  the 
house,  the  father  provides  country  cloth,  rice  husks  tied  in  a 
leaf,  and  a  sheep's  horn  ;  he  lays  them  on  the  child  and  all 
present  lay  their  hands  on  them  and  they  are  placed  inside 
the  threshold  over  which  the  child  will  be  carried  ;  when  the 
child  is  brought  in,  they  repeat  the  words  :  "  You  come,  you 
find  us  working,  you  must  work ;  don't  be  cpiarrelsome." 

Elsewhere  the  formula  runs  :  "Honour  your  father,  honour 
your  mother,  do  what  they  tell  you,  do  not  do  what  you  are 
forbidden,  help  your  father  with  farm  work,  try  to  get  money." 

When  a  child  is  born,  a  satka  is  performed  wTith  cloth  and 
a  cap  made  of  it,  that  a  witch  may  not  see  the  head  of  the 
child.  Or  a  knife  is  stuck  in  the  door  of  a  room  where  a 
child  is  born,  probably  for  the  same  reason. 

In  some  places  a  sacrifice  is  offered  on  the  threshold  at 
birth ;  a  sheep's  horn  and  country  cloth  are  put  there  by  the 
father,  who  prays  for  the  child.  He  also  chews  kola  and  spits 
it  on  the  child's  forehead  and  head,  and  prays  for  long  life 
and  fame  for  it. 

Muslims  soak  rice  in  honey  and  put  it  in  a  mortar ;  at 
the  first  stroke  of  the  pestle,  the  child's  name  is  called,  and 


110 

the  child  is  brought  on  the  veranda,  where  the  ceremony  is 
performed. 

When  a  woman  returns  to  the  house  with  her  child,  a 
diviner  must  be  consulted  as  to  its  health ;  he  may  order  a 
gown  to  be  made  for  it  or  a  fowl  to  be  offered  with  the  satka 
rite  and  then  left  in  the  house. 

If  the  child  falls  sick,  kola  and  water  are  brought ;  the  kola 
is  given  to  a  stranger  or  an  old  man  in  the  town  ;  the  water, 
in  a  country  pot,  is  used  to  wash  the  baby ;  and  the  same  pot 
must  be  used  on  future  occasions. 

The  child's  head  is  often  not  shaved  till  it  can  walk ;  the 
hair  is  simply  cut  with  scissors  before  it  goes  out  for  the  first 
time,  about  a  month  after  birth.  The  mother  puts  on  new 
cloth  and  a  blessing  is  asked  on  the  child ;  the  mother  takes 
it  on  her  lap  and  the  father  cuts  its  hair  or  shaves  its  head  ; 
the  hair,  if  the  child  is  a  girl,  is  kept  in  the  mother's  cloth  till 
the  child  grows  up ;  the  child  then  plaits  the  hair  with  her 
own ;  if  the  mother  dies,  the  father  keeps  the  hair  for  the 
child.     A  boy's  hair  is  simply  thrown  away. 

A  name  is  given  at  birth ;  sometimes  a  child  is  named  after 
a  man,  especially  the  father's  father,  or  one  who  gives  a 
present  to  the  women ;  or  a  woman  says, "  That  is  my  husband," 
and  gives  it  his  name. 

If  the  name  is  given  later,  the  father  chooses  among  his 
father,  or  grandfather,  or  his  mother  or  sister,  and  gives  the 
selected  name  to  the  child  ;  "  this  is  the  child  I  have  begotten  ; 
he  will  bear  my  father's  name  "  ;  the  second  child  may  be 
named  from  the  mother's  side. 

In  Mohammedan  areas  a  child  may  be  named  from  the  day 
of  its  birth,  e.g.,  Alakamusa ;  a  boy  chooses  his  own  name 
when  he  grows  up ;  a  girl  gets  her  name  in  the  Bundu  bush, 
but  may  also  use  her  old  name.  When  a  boy  joins  Poro,  his 
old  name  is  superseded  save  for  burial  rites. 

If  a  foster  mother  is  needed,  a  relative,  more  especially  the 
mother's  sister,  is  the  proper  person  to  undertake  the  duties, 
but  any  woman  who  has  just  given  birth  can  do  so,  even  if 
her  own  survives.     The  child  will  help  her  with  her  work 


Plate  XII. 


Ill 

afterwards.  Fosterage  sets  up  a  kind  of  kinship  and  is  a  bar 
to  marriage. 

A  child  born  with  teeth  is  called  ayina ;  a  woman  buries 
it,  or  any  other  monstrosity,  at  once  ;  a  three-legged  child  is 
said  to  have  been  born  at  Lungi  in  1914. 

When  a  child  loses  its  first  teeth  customs  are  practised 
which  bear  a  strange  resemblance  to  those  of  European  folk- 
lore. .In  some  places  a  child  throws  the  old  teeth  on  the 
house  and  says  :  "  I  don't  give  my  teeth  to  Mr.  Frog,  but  to 
Mr.  Snake  "  (because  the  frog  has  no  teeth).  In  another 
locality,  however,  the  formula  runs :  "  God,  here  is  the  tooth 
you  gave  me  ;  give  it  to  Mr.  Frog  (Pa  Roto)  and  let  him  give 
me  another  "  ;  the  child  must  then  run  away. 

Tooth  filing  seems  to  be  but  little  practised ;  when  it  is 
done,  a  palm  midrib  is  put  between  the  teeth  and  they  are 
cut  with  a  sharp  knife  ;  a  man  submits  to  it  to  make  women 
follow  him ;  when  he  laughs,  all  women  see  his  teeth. 

Body  marks  (matal)  are  also  of  small  importance, 
save  as  regards  the  marks  of  secret  societies ;  formerly 
a  woman,  when  her  breasts  were  fully  developed,  received 
some  short  cuts  over  the  nipples ;  another  woman  was  the 
operator. 

Susu. — The  father  sees  his  child  on  the  day  it  is  born,  and 
puts  in  its  mouth  kola  and  "  alligator  "  pepper,  to  "  open  "  its 
throat.  Then  a  fowl  is  killed  for  the  mother,  who  remains 
in  for  seven  days ;  bread  is  then  made  with  kola  on  the  top, 
and  the  child  is  named  and  its  head  shaved.  The  kola  is  put 
in  the  ground,  then  taken  up  again  when  it  has  burst,  and 
finally  planted  with  the  child's  hair.  The  tree  belongs  to  the 
child,  but  in  the  case  of  a  girl,  her  brother,  not  her  child, 
inherits  it  at  her  death. 

Twins  are  not  seen  by  the  father  till  the  seventh  day,  for 
otherwise  he  might  die ;  they  have  "  two  eyes."  Bread, 
100  kola,  rice,  etc.,  are  sacrificed  in  the  yard.  If  one  twin 
dies,  they  sacrifice  to  keep  the  other  alive. 

Triplets  involve  an  even  greater  sacrifice. 

The  ceremonies  are  the  same  when  a  cow  calves  of  twins ; 


112 

the  cow  may  not  be  milked  again  till  the  calves  are  weaned. 
The  twin  calves  receive  names  like  human  beings. 

Limba. — Two  days  after  birth  the  mother  eats  palm  oil  and 
rice  given  by  the  husband.  The  person  who  shaves  the 
child's  head  is  of  the  same  sex  as  the  child,  and  names  it 
at  the  same  time.  The  cord,  which  is  said  to  fall  in  three 
days  for  a  girl,  in  six  days  for  a  boy,  is  planted  with  kola 
and  the  tree  belongs  to  the  child,  but  no  harm  happens  if  the 
tree  dies. 

When  twins  are  born,  the  father  kills  six  fowls  on  the  first 
day.  A  "  doll "  is  carved  if  one  twin  dies,  and  it  is  kept  near 
the  survivor  and  rubbed  with  palm  oil  and  salt  if  the  child 
is  sick.  A  fowl  is  killed  to  the  "  doll "  on  the  day  the  child  is 
weaned.  A  woman  who  was  a  twin  still  keeps  her  "  doll  " — 
a  long  staff — and  rubs  oil  on  it  when  she  bears  a  child. 

Twins  and  triplets  seem  to  be  not  uncommon ;  four  cases 
of  the  former  were  known  in  a  town  of  forty-nine  houses  and 
three  cases  of  triplets,  for  which  the  evidence  was  less  satis- 
factory. 

TWINS. 

Over  a  great  part  of  Africa,  probably,  twins  are 
regarded  as  monstrosities,  and  killed  or  exposed  immedi- 
ately after  birth.  There  is  no  trace  of  any  such  attitude  in 
Sierra  Leone  ;  the  birth  of  twins  is  regarded  as  a  joyful 
event. 

A  typical  account  of  twin  ceremonies  was  given  me  at 
Magbile.  When  twins  are  born  outside  the  town,  the 
father's  hands  are  bound  for  an  hour,  because  if  he  is  not 
tied  the  twins  are  not  "  glad,"  and  he  cannot  get  much 
money  ;  therefore  he  is  "  punished."  Both  the  twins  are  put 
into  one  fan,  and  the  relatives  of  both  father  and  mother 
dance  round  the  town.  When  they  are  brought  into  the 
town,  another  rope  is  brought,  and  one  hand  of  the  father  is 
tied  ;  other  twins  make  the  "  twin  house"  on  the  right  of  the 
veranda,  and  the  father's  hand  is  loosed  when  the  house  is 
finished. 


113 

The  fence  of  the  "house"  is  made  of  tagbese  and  q titi ; 
inside  are  ant-heaps  covered  with  white  cloth  (these  are 
krifi),  and  on  the  fence  are  hung  the  calabash  rattles  that 
are  used  when  twins  are  born. 

The  twin  house  also  contains  broken  basins,  short  pieces 
of  tobacco,  etc. ;  this  is  twin  money. 

If  the  rites  are  not  properly  performed,  husband  or  wife 
will  go  mad.     Certain  "  twin  songs  "  have  to  be  sung  : 

"Ngnle,,  B a  1  i,  Nenqo,  oya,  oya." 
"  Hail,  Bali,  hail." 

As  a  rule,  twins  are  carried  round  the  town  in  a  fan.  For 
this  the  father  provides  white  beads,  cowries,  palm  oil,  a 
fowl,  and  shirting;  kaf  emak,  a  fungus  that  grows  on  ant- 
hills, is  mixed  with  the  palm  oil  and  eaten  by  the  father 
and  mother.  The  father  is  tied  with  cloth  when  they  go 
round  the  town.     He  must  give  his  gown  away  as  a  present. 

Male  twins  are  called  Bali  and  Sine  (Seni)  or  Sana ; 
females  bear  the  names  Seno  (Suni)  and  Sento.  An  alterna- 
tive name  for  a  male  is  Kern.  Apparently  the  names  are 
not  always  used.  The  child  born  next  after  a  twin  is  'Bese, 
and  twin  ceremonies  are  performed  in  this  case  also. 

Twins  must  not  eat  snail  (which  will  cause  crawcraw),  nor 
iguana,  for  fear  of  deafness,  nor  a  fruit  of  a  tree  called 
matiti,  which  is  used  for  the  fence  in  some  places. 

No  one  should  strike  a  twin  on  the  head,  or  his  own  neck 
will  become  twisted.  The  twin  goes  at  night  and  asks  why 
he  has  been  struck,  and  turns  the  man's  face  to  look  at  him ; 
in  the  morning  his  neck  is  twisted.  One  twin  can,  however, 
strike  another  twin. 

When  twins  are  weaned,  women  carry  them  to  the  twin 
house,  wearing  katoto  on  their  heads,  and  carrying  with 
them  a  rattle  and  a  matchet.  Eice,  palm  oil,  etc.,  are  offered, 
and  cowries  are  used  for  divination.  All  the  women  present 
and  the  twins  eat.  The  twins  are  asked  what  they  like,  and, 
if  they  cannot  speak,  they  select  their  preferences. 

If  a  twin  who  is  the  first  child  falls  sick  and  dies,  it  is 

i 


114 

buried  in  the  ashes  in  accordance  with  the  rules  for  ordinary 
children  ;  rice  is  offered  in  the  "  house,"  a  dance  is  performed 
as  for  birth,  and  mafoi  is  rubbed  on  the  dancers.  Katiti  is 
put  near  the  grave. 

A  goat  or  fowl  is  sacrificed,  but  they  do  not  lament. 

If  the  twin  is  not  the  first  child,  it  is  buried  in  the 
"  house  "  if  it  is  small,  otherwise  like  an  ordinary  person. 

Twins  are  said  to  be  very  fond  of  contradictions  ;  they 
contradict  each  other  when  they  are  born,  and  are  always 
trying  to  get  "  separate  minds."  If  one  is  dying,  they  take 
it  to  the  house  and  say:  "Kanka  kurum  bak  ;  kanka 
kurum  tebak,"  etc.  ("May  God  make  you  live  long;  may 
God  not  make  you  live  long,"  etc.),  enumerating  a  long  string 
of  contradictions. 

When  a  twin  falls  sick,  another  twin  gets  leaves  and  puts 
in  the  "  house,"  and  then  squeezes  them  into  water.  If  this 
is  dropped  on  the  face  of  the  twin,  the  child  will  live  if  the 
water  runs  to  its  nose. 

If  a  twin  dies,  a  wooden  image  is  carved  and  given  to  the 
survivor  to  play  with,  though  "dolls  "  seem  to  be  unknown. 
The  mother  keeps  it  till  the  child  is  full-grown.  This  image 
is  known  as  kobari  (twin);  it  is  kept  near  the  mother's 
sleeping-place,  and  the  survivor  will  not  fall  sick.  Bread  is 
rubbed  on  the  image  when  the  first  of  the  pair  dies,  according 
to  another  account,  which  suggests  that  the  image  is  provided 
before  the  death.     The  survivor  is  washed  with  mafoi. 

Anyone  who  plays  with  the  "  doll "  is  liable  to  get  twins ; 
that  means  trouble  unless  they  can  provide  the  sacrifice  ; 
they  may  die  or  become  blind  if  they  cannot  do  so. 

CIRCUMCISION. 

Circumcision  ceremonies  are,  on  the  whole,  of  a  simple 
character.  The  operator  is  called  betieli  or  ayunkoli,  and 
he  uses  a  sharp  blacksmith's  knife. 

The  boys  dance  all  night  before  the  day,  and  tie  hand- 
kerchiefs like  women ;  they  are  carried   to  the  east   road, 


115 

where  a  place  has  been  cleared  near  water,  and  placed  in  a 
row.  Each  boy  has  someone  to  support  him,  often  a  brother 
by  the  same  father. 

When  the  operator  is  ready,  the  helper  (an  s  em  a)  draws 
the  prepuce  forward,  and  the  operator  cuts  it  well  in  front  of 
the  glans,  with  a  single  sweep  for  a  small  boy  or  two  cuts  for 
an  older  boy.  The  helper  then  puts  the  cut  edges  in  apposi- 
tion, and  various  medicines  are  put  on.  The  penis  is  some- 
times held  up  by  the  helper  till  the  bleeding  ceases.  The 
prepuce  is  thrown  into  the  bush. 

Among  the  medicines  are  the  juice  of  a  creeper,  magbele 
and  ratQiik  ;  elsewhere  berries,  or  possibly  peppercorns,  are 
chewed  and  spat  upon  the  wound,  forming  a  deposit.  Some 
use  banana  juice  to  stop  the  bleeding,  others  epilpila,. 
etgma,  etili,  ekant,  enana,  and  elabo. 

After  a  time  the  penis  is  enclosed  in  a  funnel  of  Qtili  leaf 
and  tied  upright  with  string  ;  palm  midrib  is  tied  between 
the  legs. 

After  six  days  the  boys  wash.  They  are  carried  from  a 
house  (robirun  or  r  ok  a  ma)  in  the  bush  to  the  water-side  ; 
they  are  in  this  house  at  night  only. 

As  their  general  guardian  in  the  bush  they  have  an  old 
man  ;  an  old  widow  (yabemba)  past  child-bearing  cooks  for 
them ;  no  other  woman  may  see  them.  They  may  not  eat 
guinea-corn  (t a  s  u r),  p e n i,  cassava,  t o g b o i o  (millet),  ground- 
nuts, and  pepper.  In  some  places  eggs  are  also  forbidden, 
but  this  was  formerly  a  general  prohibition,  which  has 
perhaps  survived  in  the  circumcision  bush.  A  father  may 
not  wash  his  boy's  sores,  for  if  he  had  cohabited  the  night 
before  the  sores  would  grow  larger. 

Certain  animals  may  not  be  called  by  their  simple  names 
by  initiants  in  the  circumcision  bush.  The  word  sanko- 
mani  must  be  put  before  them,  though  it  is  not  masem  to 
use  the  simple  name.     Komani  means  "friend." 

After  the  first  washing,  they  can  go  about  as  they  please  in 
the  bush  and  wash  their  own  sores,  applying  medicine  each 
time,  every  six  days ;  after  healing  is  complete,  they  can 

I  2 


116 

wash  as  often  as  they  please.  They  wear  long  gowns 
(runku). 

The  ayunkoli  (circumciser)  and  semi  a  (attendants)  may 
not  cohabit  while  they  are  employed  in  the  bush. 

Food  may  be  prepared  in  the  town  by  the  boys'  mothers, 
and  a  sQma  goes  to  ask  for  it,  wearing  a  mask  in  some  places. 

When  all  the  wounds  are  healed,  in  the  morning  the 
se.ma  takes  them  to  the  water-side  to  wash,  and  dresses 
them  in  new  clothes.  The  boys  dance  in  the  town  all  night, 
still  wearing  the  kunku;  they  may  not  sleep  in  a  house, 
but  stay  on  the  veranda ;  women  may  now  see  them.  A 
masked  man — in  some  places  the  ayunkoli — precedes  them 
when  they  enter  the  town;  the  mask  (be  nib  a)  is  thrown 
into  the  bush  in  some  places.  The  women  know  that  the 
masker  is  a  person,  but  do  not  know  who  it  is. 

In  one  place,  if  not  more,  in  the  south,  circumcised  boys 
dance  round  the  town  when  the  boys  who  have  been  newly 
circumcised  are  in  the  bush ;  they  spoil  the  oranges,  bananas, 
etc.,  of  the  fathers.  When  they  take  gowns  to  the  bush  for 
the  boys,  they  carry  whips  with  them. 

The  initiants  pass  through  the  town  from  the  east  to  the 
west  road,  covered  with  a  big  cloth,  and  stay  three  days  in  a 
hut  made  of  palm  leaves.  The  Eagbenle  precede  them  on 
the  road.  They  wash  every  three  days  till  the  scars  are 
black.  The  dance  on  the  eve  of  their  appearance  in  public  is 
called  begbula  kobant  (eating  fragments  from  the  bone). 
They  go  round  the  town  in  the  morning,  a  masker  in  front, 
and  the  betieli  (circumciser)  washes  them  at  two  in  the 
afternoon  and  gives  them  mafni. 

Circumcision  may  be  deferred  till  as  late  as  twenty-two. 
An  uncircumcised  boy  is  not  forbidden  to  have  connection, 
but  he  will  lose  much  blood  when  he  is  circumcised. 

The  circumcision  mask  is  kept  as  a  rule,  as  also  is  the 
palm-fibre  dress.  A  second  mask  of  sacking  is  sometimes 
used,  on  which  they  spit  chewed  kola,  to  make  it  look 
dreadful.  This  masker  collects  food,  etc.,  from  the  boys' 
mothers,  and  runs  with  them  to  the  bush. 


Plate  XIII. 


•S2 


117 

Another  name  for  the  circumcision  mask  is  ayuke.  A 
specimen  from  Mapori,  in  the  Kamalu  chiefdom,  with  a  fibre 
and  palm-leaf  dress  (eyanka),  is  now  in  the  Cambridge 
Museum  of  Ethnology  (Plate  XIII). 

Limba. — Circumcision. — Although  there  is  no  direct 
evidence,  circumstances  point  to  the  fact  that  circumcision, 
like  clitoridectomy,  has  been  introduced  from  outside.  The 
circumciser  is  known  as  betieli  and  a  circumcised  person  as 
(ba)sema.  There  is  no  obvious  reason  for  the  adoption  of 
the  Timne  terms  (if,  indeed,  the  case  is  not  reversed)  if  the 
operation  was  not  introduced  either  by  Timne  men  or  from 
the  Timne  area.  The  circumcision  mask  is  known  as 
basampere, and  no  other  masks  are  known. 

Before  the  operation  a  goat  is  sacrificed,  and  the  initiants 
jump  over  it.     This  is  done  on  the  east  road. 


118 


XIII.— BURIAL. 

It  is  probably  universal  that,  of  all  departments  of  ritual, 
burial  customs  are  those  which  show  the  greatest  tendency 
to  variation  from  town  to  town  or  district  to  district.  Apart 
from  sons-in-law,  non-members  of  the  family  have  little  or 
no  share  in  the  performance  of  the  rites ;  thus  the  traditional 
element,  which  stabilises  ceremonies  in  which  people  drawn 
from  a  large  area  take  part,  is,  if  not  lacking,  at  any  rate 
less  prominent  in  funeral  customs. 

In  Sierra  Leone  the  varying  influence  of  Mohammedanism 
may  have  done  something  to  intensify  local  divergences; 
but,  on  the  whole,  in  this,  as  in  every  department  of  native 
belief  and  custom,  Muslim  influence  has  been  deadening  and 
not  vivifying.  To  this,  perhaps,  may  be  attributed  the  small 
importance  of  burial  customs  in  the  life  of  a  people  already 
singularly  poor  in  ritual  and  corporate  life  generally,  if  we 
except  the  customs  connected  with  paramount  chiefs,  almost 
certainly  a  comparatively  late  development. 

There  are  a  certain  number  of  innovations  in  the  rites 
which  may  be  traced  to  European  influence ;  chief  among 
these  is  the  use  of  a  coffin.  The  custom  of  covering  the 
body  with  sticks  and  leaves  to  prevent  the  earth  from 
touching  it,  which  is  specifically  declared  in  some  places  to 
be  modern,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  probably  Mohammedan  in 
its  origin. 

The  first  proceedings  after  a  death  are  to  summon  the 
relatives  to  the  funeral  and  to  wash  the  body  ;  in  the  case  of 
a  male,  the  washing  is  done  by  male  relatives,  in  the  case 
of  a  female  by  female  relatives ;  the  age  of  the  deceased 
determines  whether  a  brother  or  son  or  corresponding  female 
relative  undertakes  the  task. 


119 

After  washing  the  body  behind  the  house,  it  is  usually 
rubbed  with  oil,  dressed  in  good  clothes,  a  white  gown  being 
specially  mentioned  by  some  informants,  and  sprinkled  with 
scent.  Cloth  is  put  under  the  body  ;  in  non-Muslim  parts  it 
may  be  of  any  colour. 

The  grave,  sometimes  three  feet  deep,  may  be  behind  the 
house  or  in  the  yard  or  along  one  of  the  roads  leading  to  the 
farms ;  the  diggers  are  sometimes  relatives — brothers,  sons, 
or  grandsons — in  some  places  four  men  selected  at  random : 
the  body  is  carried  to  the  grave  on  a  bier  or  in  the  coffin,  and 
placed  on  the  piled-up  earth ;  again  it  is  a  matter  of  local 
custom  who  the  bearers  shall  be,  whether  relatives  or  not. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  grave  are  put  mats  or  sticks  as  a 
general  rule,  sometimes  banana  leaves  also.  The  body  may 
be  protected  by  cross  pieces  of  wood,  sticks,  leaves,  or  mats. 
I  found  little  or  no  trace  of  any  custom  of  orientation ;  but 
in  one  case  the  body  was  laid  with  its  feet  towards  the  east. 

In  non-Mohammedan  areas  no  prayers  are  offered  at  the 
grave  ;  but  in  some  cases  the  "  old  people  "  are  informed  that 
a  man  is  dead. 

In  some  localities  the  body  is  taken  down  into  the  grave 
by  men  standing  in  it,  in  others  no  one  gets  into  the  grave. 
Grave-diggers  and  others  have  to  wash  either  their  hands  or 
whole  bodies. 

Before  or  after  burial,  mats,  cloth  and  other  presents  are 
given  by  the  chief  and  others  to  the  head  of  the  house.  The 
lamentation  goes  on  for  four  days  in  some  places,  in  others 
until  an  offering  of  rice  has  been  made  ;  the  widows,  sisters, 
daughters,  sons'  wives  and  female  "  friends  "  of  the  dead  man 
take  part.  A  married  daughter  is  bound  to  come,  and  her 
husband  should  supply  a  victim ;  until  he  has  done  this,  he 
can  get  back  his  wife  only  as  a  loan.  In  some  cases  the 
son-in-law  does  not  arrive  till  the  burial  is  finished,  and 
announces  that  he  has  come  to  make  a  feast  for  his  dead 
father-in-law  ;  he  gives  cloth  to  the  widows  and  hands  over 
the  cow,  which  is  sacrificed  on  the  third  day  ;  the  son-m-law 
is  summoned  to  the   sacrifice  and   the  sacrificer  announces 


120 

that  the  son-in-law  has  brought  a  cow  in  respect  of  the  wife 
that  he  received,  that  she  may  live  long.  Thereupon  the 
son-in-law  asks  for  his  wife,  and  she  is  handed  over  by  the 
head  man  or  other  person.  In  some  cases  the  wife  returns 
with  her  husband,  in  others  she  remains  a  month — for  the 
lamentation. 

There  is  considerable  variation  with  regard  to  customs  of 
sacrifice  ;  a  sheep  may  be  killed  the  day  after  death ;  or  a 
fowl  may  be  killed,  and  served  in  a  different  basin  from  the 
rice,  some  of  each  being  put  on  the  grave.  In  other  cases  a 
goat  is  sacrificed,  and  the  oldest  man  in  the  family  names  all 
dead  relatives  and  says:  "  So-and-so  has  gone  on  the  same 
journey";  after  a  moriman  has  killed  the  victim,  the  same 
old  man  shares  it  out.  In  other  cases  a  cow  may  be  killed 
without  food  being  put  on  the  grave. 

In  some  places  a  lire  is  made  near  the  grave  for  a  month 
and  rice  offered  and  left  there  :  "  this  is  your  rice  "  ;  some  is 
eaten,  some  put  actually  on  the  grave ;  there  is  also  a  cup 
for  drinking  water.  A  sacrifice  is  not  obligatory,  and  only  a 
little  cooked  meat  would  be  taken  to  the  grave  and  shared 
among  the  relatives  who  go  there ;  when  the  offering  is 
brought,  old  women  clap  their  hands. 

When  a  sheep  is  killed  the  day  after  death,  a  cow  may  be 
killed  on  the  third  day :  "  We  make  sacrifices  now  that  a 
man  is  dead ;  wTe  who  are  left  in  the  world  must  not  make 
his  children  cry ;  you  who  are  dead,  a  stranger  has  come  to 
you  ;  treat  him  well." 

In  other  cases  the  fowl  sacrifice  is  made  on  the  third  day ; 
rice  is  put  on  the  stone  and  the  dead  man  addressed  :  "  If 
you  are  willing  to  eat,  let  the  fowl  pick  up  rice."  If  the 
fowl  eats,  they  go  and  cook  ;  the  fowl  may  be  killed  by  any- 
one ;  then  fowl  and  rice  are  carried  to  the  grave  and  the 
words  spoken :  "  This  is  your  food ;  may  God  give  long  life 
to  those  who  remain." 

In  another  case  rice  is  cooked  two  nights  in  succession  and 
put  in  the  house  of  the  dead  man,  which  no  one  should  enter 
for  some  short  time ;    the  rice  is,  however,  taken  out  and 


121 

eaten  the  same  night  and  a  bread  sacrifice  made  on  the 
fourth  day. 

The  purpose  of  these  sacrifices  is  not  always  clearly 
defined,  but  it  seems  that  where  the  food  idea  is  not 
definitely  present,  there  is  a  vague  idea  of  benefiting  the 
dead  man,  "that  he  may  get  a  good  journey."  Possibly, 
however,  this  is  merely  a  weakened  form  of  the  idea  once 
or  twice  definitely  expressed  that  the  food  supports  the  dead 
man  on  the  way. 

It  may  be  noted  that  in  the  case  of  a  paramount  chief 
money  is  put  with  him,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  going  to  meet 
his  ancestors. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  annual  sacrifice  is,  at  least  in  part, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  living :  "  when  you  sacrifice  you  get 
blessing." 

Graves  are  frequently  scattered  about  irregularly  (Plate 
XIV),  especially  in  the  space  between  the  two  portions  into 
which  many  villages  are  divided.  Occasionally  a  regular  burial 
ground  is  in  use,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  there  is  any 
compulsion  to  use  it.  As  it  is  supposed  that  husband  and 
wife  buried  near  together  will  meet  in  Rokrifi,  the  explanation 
of  the  common  burial  ground  may  rest  on  some  similar  idea. 

The  main  difference  between  the  Muslim  and  the  "  Timne  " 
ritual  lies  in  the  fact  that  prayers  are  freely  offered  by  the 
former  for  the  welfare  of  the  deceased ;  the  body  is  brought 
out  and  all  pray  on  it,  so  that,  even  if  he  has  done  evil,  God 
may  take  him  to  heaven.  My  informant  added  that  you 
pray  for  other  people  in  order  that  they  may  pray  for 
you  when  you  die. 

In  some  cases,  at  any  rate,  the  lamentation  ends  with  the 
burial,  whereas  in  the  Timne  ritual  it  may  go  on  for  anything 
from  three  days  to  a  month,  late  comers  putting  a  cloth  and 
a  mat  on  the  grave  in  each  case. 

Another  Mohammedan  feature,  reported  in  only  one  town, 
was  that,  after  the  washing  of  the  body,  it  is  put  aside,  and 
the  creditors  of  the  dead  man  are  invited  to  come  forward  to 
receive  their  due.     Then  in  like  manner  debtors  are  asked  to 


122 

come  and  render  what  they  owe  or  make  a  promise  to  pay,  if 
they  cannot  lay  their  hands  on  the  necessary  money.  After 
this,  all  pray  for  the  dead  man  and  beg  that  Knrumasaba 
may  "  put  him  on  a  good  road."  After  the  burial  there  are 
further  prayers  for  forgiveness  of  the  dead  man's  sins. 

The  burial  of  a  woman  differs  in  several  particulars  from 
that  of  a  man.  If  a  woman  dies  before  she  has  completed 
the  Bundu  ceremonies,  she  must  be  "brought  out"  before 
she  can  be  buried,  whereas  a  boy  who  dies  in  the  circum- 
cision bush  is  buried  there. 

The  corpse  is  washed  by  women,  who  loose  the  hair  and 
plait  it  again  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  then  rub  the  body 
with  oil  and  dress  it.  In  some  places  money  is  put  in  the 
hair,  because  if  the  dead  woman  has  not  performed  the 
proper  ceremonies  for  her  dead  parents  she  will  get  palaver 
and  will  need  money  to  settle  it ;  if  she  was  a  snuff-taker, 
tobacco  may,  as  in  the  case  of  men,  be  ground  and  put  in  her 
hands. 

In  some  places  the  diba,  or  head  Bundu  woman,  is 
informed  and  receives  a  yard  of  cloth,  to  tie  round  her  head, 
and  two  red  kola.  The  corpse  is  put  on  a  bed  in  the  middle 
of  the  house  and  the  women  march  round,  singing :  "  You, 
what  we  told  you  and  you  desired,  you  see  it  with  your  own 
eyes  ;  you,  you  have  no  mercy,  you  leave  your  child  crying. 
Look  at  our  companion  whom  they  put  on  the  bier."  Each 
woman  takes  grass  from  the  thatch  of  her  house  and  they 
dance  from  right  to  left  round  the  town,  starting  from  the 
dead  woman's  house.  The  esamburi  (Bundu)  drum  is 
beaten  before  and  after  burial. 

The  grave  is  dug  by  two  men  and  two  more  take  out  the 
earth  ;  if  the  number  were  uneven,  one  of  them  would  die 
soon.  The  earth  first  dug  is  put  on  one  side  ;  clean  rice  is 
cooked  and  put  at  the  head  of  the  corpse,  which  is  told  that 
the  grave  is  dug.  Women  then  take  up  the  corpse,  a  woman 
carries  the  rice,  and  others  the  presents  of  cloth,  etc.,  which 
are  not  taken  into  the  house. 

They  march  round  the  grave  and  put  a  mat  on  the  thrown- 


123 

up  earth,  which  is  levelled  to  receive  the  body.  An  old  man 
splits  a  kola  nut  and  addresses  the  corpse :  "  I  hand  you  over 
to  the  old  people,"  mentioning  their  names  ;  "  I  hand  you 
your  child  "  ;  then  he  throws  the  kola  down  at  the  head  of 
the  corpse,  and  if  the  sections  fall  "  even"  (the  sections  both 
up  or  both  down),  he  takes  the  kola,  aud  the  corpse  is 
lowered  three  times  and  finally  put  into  the  grave.  It  is 
covered  with  a  mat,  and  the  first  earth  is  then  thrown  in  ; 
old  women  usually  fill  in  the  grave,  beating  the  earth  down 
with' their  hands;  the  first  earth  dug  in  making  the  grave  is 
put  first  on  the  body,  because  the  woman  was  used  to  this  in 
life,  as  it  lay  on  the  surface,  and  it  will  not  press  too  heavily. 

The  grave-diggers  and  all  the  women  wash  before  going 
home,  and  the  hoes  are  also  washed. 

Eice  is  cooked  and,  according  to  one  account,  sacrificed  on 
the  grave  ;  according  to  another,  simply  carried  there  by  the 
women  to  provide  the  corpse  with  food  on  its  journey.  In 
other  places  no  food  is  actually  put  on  the  grave,  but  kola  is 
planted  at  the  head,  which  will  grow  if  the  woman  was  not  a 
witch ;  if  it  grows,  a  fowl  is  killed  and  rice  cooked  ;  the 
relatives  say  they  are  bringing  food,  and  the  feet  and  liver 
are  put  on  a  leaf  with  a  handful  of  rice  and  placed  on  the 
top  of  the  grave. 

The  Muslim  custom  is  to  sacrifice  on  the  third,  seventh, 
fourteenth,  and  fortieth  days ;  the  Timne  have  no  stated 
times. 

When  a  wife  dies,  the  widower  sends  a  present  to  her 
parents  by  the  hand  of  a  woman.  They  come  to  see  her  and 
may  carry  her  away  for  burial ;  the  husband  would  then 
provide  mats,  cloth,  rice,  etc.  He  should  not  see  her  corpse, 
just  as  in  some  cases  a  widow  may  not  see  her  dead  husband. 

If  the  husband  is  going  to  bury  her  himself,  his  brothers 
and  sisters  are  summoned ;  and,  if  necessary,  word  is  sent  to 
the  parents  to  ask  for  information ;  for  if  her  mother  has 
died  before  her  and  not  received  any  sacrifice,  the  daughter 
may  not  receive  any  sacrifice  till  her  mother's  rites  are 
performed  ;  then  the  sacrifice  must  be  offered  in  the  presence 


124 

of  the  husband,  and  he  tells  his  dead  wife  what  work  he  has 
to  do  that  he  may  have  peace  and  health. 

An  old  woman  takes  the  husband  to  the  water-side  and 
until  then  he  keeps  the  clothes  he  wore  when  his  wife  died. 
After  the  washing  he  puts  them  off,  as  a  sign  that  he  and  the 
woman  are  separated. 

There  are  some  curious  customs  with  regard  to  the  burial 
of  children  ;  it  is  of  course  a  normal  thing  for  a  family  to 
lose  children  in  infancy,  but  if  by  chance  all  should  survive 
to  manhood  and  womanhood,  these  customs  would  still  be 
carried  out,  where  they  are  in  vogue  at  all. 

The  first  child  that  dies  in  a  family  must  be  buried  in  the 
rubbish  heap  wrapped  in  leaves  and  raw  cotton  and  perhaps 
a  single  mat.  It  should  be  noted  that  a  witch  is  also  buried 
without  a  cloth,  on  the  ground  that  otherwise  she  would 
come  back  and  trouble  the  living  further. 

They  do  not  lament  for  the  child,  which  is  buried  by  an 
old  woman  ;  the  mother  goes  with  her  and  is  washed  later, 
together  with  the  clothes  used  by  the  child.  This  washing, 
called  ambiliha,  is  to  prevent  the  sickness  of  the  child 
from  remaining  in  the  mother's  body ;  the  same  name  is 
given  to  the  washing  of  the  widow ;  the  word  means 
"  sorrow."  The  mother's  hair  must  be  loosed  and  plaited 
again,  and  on  the  night  the  child  is  buried  she  must  have 
connection  with  her  husband.  This  last  detail  suggests,  not 
that  the  child  is  regarded  as  an  evil  spirit  or  possible  enemy, 
but  that  there  may  be  some  idea  of  reincarnation,  though 
there  is  otherwise  no  trace  of  any  belief  in  it.  The  object  of 
burying  in  the  rubbish  heap  may  in  that  case  be  to  disgust 
the  child  with  its  surroundings  and  cause  it  to  return ;  the 
custom  of  burying  the  second  child  on  the  veranda  is  in 
harmony  with  this  explanation. 

It  seems,  however,  on  the  whole  more  probable  that  the 
burial  in  the  rubbish  heap  is  intended  to  deceive  in  some 
way  the  witch  or  evil  spirit  that  is  believed  to  have  caused 
the  death  of  the  child. 

A  mother  and  child  are  not  buried  in  the  same  grave  ;  but 


125 

a  child's  grave  is  near  those  of  its  relatives,  that  they  may 
look  after  it  in  Rokrifi  ;  the  grave  of  a  grandfather  or  grand- 
mother is  specially  suitable.  A  baby  is  buried  on  the 
veranda  that  it  may  not  be  soaked  with  rain. 

A  suicide  is  buried  without  sacrifice :  impotence  was 
formerly  a  frequent  cause  of  suicide. 

Certain  diseases  involve  special  methods  of  burial,  or  a 
special  location  for  the  grave,  frequently  in  the  bush.  A 
person  with  smallpox  must  be  buried  in  the  bush  by  people 
who  have  already  had  the  disease  ;  witches  are  sometimes 
buried  in  the  witches'  bush,  but  with  only  a  single  mat  and 
no  cloth.  A  person  killed  by  lightning  is  also  buried  naked. 
Anyone  who  lias  suffered  from  large  sores  should  be  buried 
in  an  ant-hill  by  those  who  know  how  to  cure  such  sores. 
An  epileptic  should  be  buried  near  water;  it  is  mas9in  to 
inter  him  on  land.  A  person  burnt  to  death  must  be  buried 
on  the  road  or  the  town  will  burn ;  a  person  who  dies  of 
snake-bite  is  buried  at  the  entrance  to  the  town  or  the  snake 
will  come  in  ;  if  a  leopard  kills  anyone,  he  must  be  buried 
across  a  river,  or  the  leopard  will  come  into  the  town. 
Anyone  who  dies  of  leprosy  is  buried  in  water  and  medicine 
is  sprinkled  over  the  house.  According  to  information  given 
to  Schlenker,  the  Timne  had  some  form  of  embalming 
but  he  gives  no  details.  He  also  states  that  a  slave  might  be 
buried  with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  the  other  end  of  which 
was  tied  to  a  post  outside  the  grave ;  he  would  then  belong 
to  his  original  owner  in  Eokrifi  (see  p.  44). 

Apart  from  the  washing  obligatory  on  grave-diggers  and 
mourners,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  fear  of  death  or  of 
the  dead  ;  it  was  stated  by  one  informant  that  the  Timne 
feared  the  earth  of  the  grave,  while  the  Muslims  said  it  was 
good.  Occasionally  the  name  of  the  dead  is  tabu,  and  a 
child  who  names  a  dead  father  or  mother  must  sacrifice 
under  penalty  of  falling  sick  ;  this  custom,  however,  appears 
to  be  exceptional,  as  no  difficulty  was  found  in  obtaining  the 
names  for  genealogies. 

As  regards  the  widow  the  customs  vary  a  good  deal.     In 


126 

some  places  she  remains  in  her  husband's  house,  in  others  a 
house  is  assigned  to  her  by  the  head  of  the  family. 

Four  days  after  the  husband's  death  the  parents  of  the 
widow  in  some  places  come  to  ask  the  husband's  family  to 
return  her  to  them ;  but  presents  are  offered  to  them  and 
they  are  told  that  the  sacrifices  have  yet  to  be  made.  As  a 
sign  of  mourning  she  wears  white,  and  the  brothers  of  the 
dead  man  also  tie  white  thread  on  her  neck  and  cords  on  her 
wrists ;  she  continues  lamenting  till  these  are  removed.  In 
some  places  a  widow  is  not  allowed  to  work,  in  others  she 
can  please  herself;  but  she  seems  to  be  free  in  all  cases  to  go 
about  at  will.  She  can  even  visit  her  parents,  provided  she 
is  "  carried,"  i.e.,  conducted  by  a  small  boy ;  but  she  must 
sleep  in  her  late  husband's  house  or  the  house  assigned  to 
her,  as  the  case  may  be. 

This  is  perhaps  an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  for  an 
old  woman  and  the  sister's  son  of  the  dead  man  are  usually 
in  charge  and  one  informant  expressly  stated  than  no  man, 
save  this  sister's  son,  might  speak  to  her.  Possibly,  however, 
the  informant  who  spoke  of  the  small  boy  meant  the  sister's 
son,  for  the  latter,  who  sleeps  on  the  threshold  of  the  house 
they  are  in,  goes  in  front  of  them  when  they  go  out.  He 
wears  the  gowns  of  the  dead  man,  and  is  clearly  his 
representative ;  in  some  cases  the  widows  are  told  that  he  is 
their  husband. 

A  widow  who  runs  after  other  men  is  regarded  as  wanting 
in  love  to  her  dead  husband  and  told  to  return  to  her  parents. 

The  period  of  mourning  varies  from  fourteen  to  forty  days 
for  the  Timne  and  is  terminated  by  a  ceremonial  washing  ; 
the  sisters  of  the  dead  man,  or  the  old  woman  in  charge  of 
the  widows,  should  accompany  them ;  if  the  sister's  son  goes 
too,  he  waits  at  a  spot  half-way  to  the  water-side. 

The  thread  and  cord  are  removed  before  washing  and  the 
widow  is  asked  to  name  the  man  whom  she  wishes  to  marry  ;. 
in  some  cases  the  brother  of  the  dead  man  can  claim  her,  in 
others  she  is  free  to  choose,  but  her  children  must  remain 
with  the  brother. 


127 

For  the  washing,  they  sit  in  the  water  and  are  rubbed 
with  leaves  ;  the  old  woman  takes  their  old  clothing  and  the 
suitors  provide  new  garments  after  being  informed  of  the 
woman's  choice,  and  send  it  to  the  water-side.  In  other 
cases  the  brothers  provide  the  clothing,  but  this  may  be  only 
because  they  can  claim  the  widows. 

When  a  widow  returns  from  the  water-side  her  new 
husband  brings  a  dance  to  meet  her  and  she  goes  straight  to 
his  house ;  a  cow  is  then  killed  or  sacrificed,  with  the 
words :  "  Our  dead  brother,  may  God  take  him  to  heaven 
and  make  his  children  healthy.  May  peace  be  in  the  house 
of  the  new  husband."  If,  however,  the  new  husband  should 
have  relations  with  the  widow  before  the  purification  by 
washing,  he  may  have  some  trouble  in  getting  her,  and  have 
to  pay  a  sum  of  money. 

When  she  marries  a  brother,  he  looks  after  the  house  and 
children  of  the  dead  man  and  all  the  property  is  in  his  care. 
He  will  buy  wives  for  the  sons  and  take  the  bride-price  of 
the  daughters  ;  if  the  second  husband  is  not  a  brother,  he 
shares  the  price  with  the  widow  and  the  dead  man's  brothers, 
who  will  assist  him  in  bringing  up  the  children. 

The  cow  appears  to  be  shared  among  all  persons  present ; 
but  in  some  towns  each  suitor  kills  a  goat,  of  which  he  does  not 
eat  himself,  nor  does  his  new  wife;  the  explanation  given  is 
that  he  is  too  glad,  but  this  is  probably  an  explanation  sug- 
gested when  the  real  meaning  of  the  abstinence  was  forgotten. 

When  the  widow  strongly  objects  to  the  brothers  but  has 
no  choice,  she  can  hand  the  children  to  the  chief  in  some 
places,  and  then  return  to  her  parents ;  if  there  are  no 
children,  her  people  must  refund  the  bride-price ;  if  she  has 
no  relatives,  the  chief  can  refund  the  money  in  order  to 
release  the  woman. 

In  some  places  her  family  bring  a  sheep  and  kola  to  offer 
to  the  dead  man  with  the  words :  "  We  bid  you  good-bye  for 
the  marriage " ;  the  relatives  must  hand  the  kola  back  if 
they  want  to  keep  the  woman.  If  she  returns  to  her  parents 
the  full  bride-price  is  payable  by  the  new  husband. 


128 

Muslim  customs  differ  slightly  from  these.  The  widow 
wears  charms  that  she  may  not  see  her  dead  husband  ;  she 
puts  on  slippers,  for  she  may  not  walk  on  the  bare  ground 
under  penalty  of  falling  sick.  For  fifteen  days  they  stay 
in  the  house  and  do  no  work  ;  they  are,  however,  allowed  to 
go  out  under  escort  to  wash.  At  the  end  of  this  period 
notice  is  given  to  the  women's  families  and  that  of  the  dead 
man ;  a  sheep  and  rice  are  brought  and  the  women  are  taken 
to  the  water-side  ;  when  they  return  they  have  resumed 
their  ornaments. 

When  the  dead  man's  brother  sacrifices,  the  widows  also 
lay  their  hands  on  the  victim. 

A  widow  gets  from  her  parents  all  her  dead  husband  used 
to  get,  and  gives  it  to  his  brother,  "  to  say  good-bye  to  the 
dead  man  "  ;  "  it  is  as  if  these  things  belong  to  the  dead  man." 
Each  widow  cooks  ;  and  the  food  is  put  on  fans  bought  for 
the  purpose  ;  rice  and  meat  are  dished  and  carried  to  the 
dead  man's  sister's  son  :  "  we  have  finished  cooking  to-day." 
Then  they  eat  some  of  the  rice  and  their  parents  give  a 
small  present  to  the  parents  of  the  dead  man  and  ask  for 
their  daughter.  The  parents  should  not  give  her  to  another 
husband  until  they  have  complimented  the  dead  man's  family 
and  taken  them  a  present. 

A  widow  should,  in  point  of  fact,  marry  in  the  dead  man's 
family  ;  but  if  she  does  not  do  so,  her  father  gets  the  price  ; 
a  brother  of  the  dead  man  might  get  a  small  present  also. 
The  second  husband  offers  no  sacrifice. 

Another  informant  said  that  widows  called  on  the  name  of 
God  for  three  days  and  then  sacrificed  and  got  white  clothing. 
They  washed  every  Friday  and  sacrificed  again  on  the 
seventh  day  after  the  first  sacrifice.  On  the  fortieth  day  an 
old  widow  took  them  to  the  water-side. 

In  some  places,  after  the  agbili  abura  (washing  of  the 
widow)  the  clothes  and  sandals  of  the  widow  are  hung  on  a 
small  dead  shrub  by  the  side  of  the  path,  probably  where 
the  road  forks,  with  four  logs  round  it ;  this  is  called 
ambe.se  (four-square).     The  widows  dance  all  night  in  the 


1'l.ATK    XIV. 


GRAVE   UNDER    A    TREE   (TIMNE). 


susr  crave.     Seepage  12!). 


129 

fudia  (house  of  mourning)  before  they  go  to  wash;  and 
leave  their  mourning  clothes  on  their  way  hack  from  the 
water-side. 

Susu. — The  customs  do  not  seem  to  differ  in  any  marked 
degree  from  those  of  Timne  Muslims.  But  for  a  man  the 
grave  faces  east  and  for  a  woman  it  faces  west ;  my 
informant  said  that  a  woman's  face  was  turned  "  down  " 
towards  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  but  this  is  probably  not 
to  be  understood  in  a  literal  sense. 

The  grave  is  usually  outside  of  the  town  and  the  bier  is 
frequently  left  upon  it  (Plate  XIV)  ;  but  a  small  child  maybe 
buried  in  the  yard  :  bread  is  sacrificed  and  prayers  are  offered 
that  it  may  get  a  "good  angel"  (maleke). 

As  a  sign  of  mourning  sons  shave  their  heads  and  women 
plait  their  hair  high.     All  wear  white  at  a  burial. 

A  widower  turns  his  clothes  and  cap  wrong  side  out  for 
three  days  and  then  washes  "  in  moriman's  writing." 

Loko. — A  man's  head  wife  sits  at  the  head  of  his  bed  and 
stretches  his  limbs  when  he  dies ;  then  she  looses  her  hair, 
stands  up  and  falls  down,  and  finally  runs  about  the  town. 

When  the  body  is  put  down  near  the  grave,  kola  is  thrown, 
and  if  it  splits  open  with  both  sections  up  or  down,  the  omen 
is  good  and  the  dead  man  will  do  no  mischief :  otherwise  the 
kola  must  be  thrown  again. 

A  widow  sees  her  husband  buried  and  is  secluded  for  four 
months.  She  then  washes  and  chooses  another  husband,  who  is 
informed  by  a  sister  of  the  dead  man.  The  dead  man's  brother 
can  claim  her  ;  but  if  she  objects,  he  will  release  her  ;  in  that 
case  bride-price  is  paid  to  her  parents  by  the  man  she 
chooses. 

Gold  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  a  paramount  chief  :  but 
otherwise  there  is  no  special  ceremony,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  absence  of  mas  am. 

Children  are  buried  on  the  veranda,  but  the  first  child  is 
put  in  the  rubbish  heap;  it  is  "a  sacrifice  of  the  family." 
If  it  were  buried  in  the  ordinary  way  all  the  other  children 
would  die. 

K 


130 

Black  cloth  is  tied  over  the  eyes  of  a  witch. 

If  a  twin  dies  in  infancy,  an  image  is  given  to  the 
survivor:  rice  can  be  offered  to  it  for  the  dead  child.  The 
"  house"  is  known,  but  burial  in  it  is  not  recognised. 

Koranko. — A  man  is  hung  from  a  pole  and  carried  to  his 
own  town  for  burial ;  the  joints  are  bent  that  they  may  not 
be  stiff.  The  grave  is  dug  with  a  side  chamber  for  a  rich 
man,  and  a  stone  is  placed  at  the  head,  where  a  fowl  and  rice 
are  offered  on  the  night  of  the  funeral ;  the  bearers,  not  the 
son,  kill  the  fowl.  Xo  small  boys  should  be  present  at  the 
burial. 

The  widow  laments  and  takes  kola  to  bid  good-bye  to  the 
family  before  the  funeral ;  it  is  given  to  the  bearers,  who 
have  to  inform  the  dead  man  that  she  has  taken  leave  of 
him. 

The  widow  wears  white  and  must  practise  continence  for 
a  whole  year.  She  can  do  ordinary  work  but  must  not  walk 
out  alone.  At  the  close  of  mourning  her  clothes  are  hung  by 
the  side  of  the  road.  She  can  marry  a  brother  or  go  outside 
the  family  if  she  prefers  it  ;  in  the  latter  case  the  brother 
of  the  dead  man  receives  the  money  through  the  woman's 
parents. 

Limba. — In  former  times  bodies  were  buried  in  the  house 
or  on  the  veranda ;  now  the  grave  is  dug  on  the  road  or  in 
the  bush  near  the  town.  The  handles  of  the  hoes  are  left 
on  the  grave ;  only  grave-diggers  wash,  even  though  other 
people  present  may  have  touched  the  body. 

On  the  following  morning  a  fowl  may  be  killed ;  it  is  eaten 
by  all  who  were  present,  including  the  grave-diggers.  Rice 
is  offered  to  the  dead  man. 

The  victim  may  be  sacrificed  in  the  house  ;  one  informant 
said  it  was  "  to  make  the  family  live." 

Then  the  kaboga  (lamentation)  is  arranged, which  maybe 
a  year  or  more  later.  Dancers  (e,gbil  kQro)  come,  dressed 
in  skins  and  masks. 

The  widow  goes  to  the  brother  of  the  deceased  among  the 
"Wara-wara  Limba ;  she  ties  a  cassava  leaf  on  her  head,  that 


131 

it  may  not  pain  her  when  she  cries  for  the  four  prescribed 
days. 

Among  the  Safroko  the  old  widows  go  to  the  brother,  the 
young  ones  to  the  son,  but  she  seems  in  point  of  fact  to 
choose  for  herself. 


K  2 


132 


XIV.— TOTEMISM. 

A  number  of  facts  came  to  light  which  suggest  that 
totemism,  somewhat  overlaid  perhaps  by  other  prohibitions, 
exists  among  most  of  the  Sierra  Leone  tribes.  It  is  true  that 
the  name  of  the  clan  is  not  derived  from  the  forbidden 
animal,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  nor  are  the  clans  invariably 
exogamous ;  but  the  exogamous  rule  clearly  existed  in  the 
past,  and  in  the  main  the  prohibitions  are  of  the  totemic 
type ;  the  only  attempt  to  account  for  the  prohibitions 
asserted  that  they  were  acquired  by  "experience."  The 
main  indication  of  totemism  is  the  (rare)  assertion  that 
animal  and  man  are  of  the  same  family. 

In  general  the  totems,  if  such  they  are,  appear  to  be  of 
small  importance  in  the  life  of  the  people,  if  we  except  the 
Kuruma  and  Bokoro  clans.  The  existence  of  the  clans  is, 
however,  at  once  proclaimed  in  the  Timne  country  by  the 
custom  of  appending  the  clan  name  to  that  of  the  individual ; 
it  is,  in  fact,  on  the  way  to  become  a  surname ;  at  Magbile, 
Seni  Kabia's  son  was  known  as  Fode  Kabia,  and  four  of  Fode 
Kabia's  sons  by  his  first  wife  also  used  the  surname  Kabia. 


The  following 

is  a  list  of  Timne  clans : 

— 

Clan  (a buna). 

Prohibitions. 

Sanction. 

1.  Kamara  ... 

(a)  alulu  (soldier  1  rird) 
(&)cob. 

sore  on  arm. 

2.  Bangura  ... 

(a)  crocodile. 

(b)  ran  ink      (electric 
fish). 

crawcraw. 

3.  Dumbwia 

(a)  §bunk  (yam  sp.). 

(b)  crocodile. 

,  (c)  wirikalal  (duiker). 

foot  cracks. 

4.  Sise 

(a)  crocodile. 

(b)  leopard. 

foot  cracks. 

133 


Clan  (a buna). 

Prohibitions. 

Sanction. 

5. 

Ture 

(a)  ran  ink  (fish). 

(b)  ebeli  (bean). 

(a)  crawcraw  or 
loose  teeth. 

6. 

Kano 

(«)  akoma  (lesser  plan- 
tain eater). 
(b)  ran  ink  (fish). 

loose  teeth. 

7. 

K  i  n  t  o 

emasaiyim        ("like 
yams  "). 

8. 

Bokoro    ... 

grave. 

9. 

Kagbo 

(a)  a  ban  a     (?  weaver 

loose  teeth. 

bird). 
(b)  ranink  (fish). 

(c)  crocodile. 

(c)  cracked  feet. 

10. 

Sanu 

(a)  crocodile. 

(b)  kabal  (eel). 

11. 

Sonle 

(")  kana  (?  civet). 

(b)  atiiiko  (snail). 

(c)  arof    (Jbitis    nasi 
comis). 

spots  on  body  (if 
eaten). 

12. 

Lata 

kakunip  (tree). 

crawcraw  (if  used 
for  soup). 

13. 

Munu 

(a)  abana  (bird). 

(b)  python. 

spots  on  body. 

14. 

KQno 

(a)  col  i. 

(b)  ranink  (fish). 

red  spots  on  body. 

15. 

Worn  bo    ... 

T                     "1 

(a)  a  b a  n  a  ("  red  bird  "). 
(&)alulu  (soldier  bird). 

(a)  skin  red  if  eaten. 

16. 

Konte 

(a)  ranink  (fish). 

(b)  katuhkele  (bush 
cat). 

17. 

Gbanti     ... 

afunku  (small  bird). 

18. 

Kuruma  ... 

(a)  fire. 

(diara ) 

(b)  baboon. 

(c)  kola. 

(b)  spotted  hands. 

19. 

Kabia 

(a)  nut  oil. 

(a)  nose  gets  black. 

(b)  rats. 

(b)  eyes  painful. 

(c)  akoma  (bird). 

134 


Clan  (a buna). 

Prohibitions. 

Sanction. 

20.  Fola 

(a)   monkey,   (b)   dog, 
(c)  tasur,  (d)  snails, 
(e)  bush    fowl    (not 
to  eat  nor  touch). 

21.  Sanko       ... 

(a)  alJana  (bird). 
(6)  crocodile. 

22.  Poli 

akamu  (iguana). 

23.  Lubu 

24.  Mana 

25.  Toronka ... 

Alternative  Names. 

1.  Kamara  =  B'araii  =  Mela. 

2.  Bangura  =  Tale. 

6.  Kano  =  Tunkuma. 
9.  Kagbo  =  Sanko. 


Alternative  Totems. 


Clan  (a  bun  a). 

Prohibitions. 

Sanction. 

1     

A.  as  No.  13. 

B.  abunkenke. 

[B'aran] 

C.    python,    crab,    baboon, 
anrof  (snake). 

D.  Anbonborot  (tree)  for 

poverty. 

firewood. 

E.  crocodile. 

2     

A.  leopard ;  cob :  but  may 
touch  leopard  skin. 

B.  leopard. 

10     

A.  bush  pig ;  porcupine. 

135 


Alternative  Totems — continued. 


Clan  (a bun  a). 

Prohibitions. 

Sanction. 

16     

A.    ranii'ik  (fish);   abana 
(bird). 

B.  ebonk. 

crawcraw. 

18     

A.  (a)  leopard;  (b)  magbel 
(fish) ;    (c)   baboon ;    (d) 
arof  (snake). 

(a)  skin  becomes 
like  leopard. 

(c)  hands     like 
baboon's. 

(d)  skin      like 
snake,    if     he 
touches  blood. 

21  [Kagbai]... 

A.  elephant. 

Timne. — In  a  certain  number  of  cases  the  exogamous  rule 
held  good  ;  but  it  is  clearly  in  process  of  being  abrogated,  as 
there  were  cases  in  my  genealogies  in  which  members  of  the 
Kamara  clan  intermarried  ;  and  it  was  more  than  once 
expressly  stated  that  by  means  of  a  sacrifice  the  "  nearness  " 
could  be  overcome,  especially  if  no  other  woman  were  available. 
The  suitor  sacrificed  a  sheep  and  bread  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  people  ;  in  some  places  all  ate ;  in  others,  some  asked  a 
blessing  and  handed  their  meat  to  others.  Some  say  that  the 
suitor  should  not  eat.  In  other  cases  no  sacrifice  was 
needed ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  wife  would  come  from 
another  village. 

The  respect  for  the  totem  is  usually  shown  by  abstention 
from  killing  and  eating  it,  or  using  the  tree  for  firewood  :  in 
some  cases  touching,  especially  the  dead  animal,  is  or  was 
forbidden  ;  Kagbo  clan  may  give  ran  ink  to  one  who  is  not 
a  Kagbo,  but  must  wash  hands  after  touching  it ;  eating  the 
fish,  on  the  other  hand,  brings  on  the  head  of  the  offender  a 
penalty  that  cannot  be  avoided.  Bangura  clan  avoids 
leopard  but  may  touch  a  leopard  skin  without  precautions. 
In  some  places  it  is  not  forbidden  to  kill  the  totem  and  sell 


136 

to  others.  If  Kamara  eats  a  forbidden  animal,  they  tie  a 
yam  leaf  in  a  big  leaf  to  rot  and  nib  on  the  spots,  which 
then  disappear. 

A  Kamara  man  who  sees  a  living  python  will  die ;  and  he 
will  not  touch  a  dead  one,  though  he  will  tell  a  man  who  can 
eat  it  where  it  is  to  be  found.  He  will  not,  however,  allow 
one  to  be  killed  in  his  presence  and  will  offer  money  to 
secure  the  release  of  a  young  python  kept  in  captivity. 
Probably  all  these  customs  are  more  or  less  in  abeyance,  for  I 
kept  a  python  in  captivity  for  some  months  and  received  no 
offer  from  any  Kamara  man. 

In  the  ordinary  way  the  descent  of  the  totem  is  patrilineal ; 
but  one  or  two  informants  respected  their  mothers'  totems, 
though  the  prohibition  would  not  be  passed  on  to  their 
children.  A  wife  must  respect  her  husband's  totem  when 
she  is  pregnant  or  suckling  a  child ;  she  may  not  cook  his 
forbidden  animal  in  his  pots. 

In  many  cases  the  penalty  for  breach  of  a  prohibition 
seems  to  be  related  to  the  forbidden  animal ;  thus,  spots  on 
the  skin  and  the  leopard,  red  marks  and  a  red  bird,  cracked 
feet  and  the  crocodile  (skin),  and  so  on.  In  no  case  did  I 
hear  of  any  remedy  for  a  breach  of  the  tabu. 

Two  clans  observe  prohibitions  of  an  exceptional  nature. 
Bonkoro  may  not  see  a  grave ;  when  a  member  dies,  old 
people  carry  the  body  to  the  bush  and  dig  a  grave,  on  which 
trees  are  subsequently  felled.  On  their  way  back  to  the 
town  the  grave-diggers  may  not  look  back.  No  offerings  of 
food  are  made  to  the  dead. 

The  Kuruma  family  among  the  Timne  are  regarded  as  the 
owners  of  fire  ;  when  a  clansman  dies,  fire  is  taken  out  of 
the  house  before  burial,  for  he  must  carry  the  fire  with  him 
when  he  dies,  or  the  whole  town  will  burn.  Another 
informant  said  that  fire  should  not  lie  lighted  when  a  dead 
body  is  in  the  house ;  but  women  might  have  a  fire  in  the 
kitchen,  for  which  a  special  place  is  assigned  in  a  Kuruma  house. 

Xo  one  should  point  fire  at  a  Kuruma,  nor  should  fire  be 
too  close  to  them  ;  when  anyone  lights  a  fire  or  a  lamp  in  the 


137 

presence  of  a  Kuruma,  he  must  .say,  "  Excuse  me,"  and  the 
Kuruma  says,  "  All  right  "  ;  otherwise  the  fire  or  lamp  will 
not  burn. 

A  curious  quasi-totemic  prohibition  deserves  mention 
here  ;  the  wank  a  eyebe  consists  of  stones  and  sticks  put  near 
a  tree  to  protect  it  from  thieves.  It  "  catches  "  women  more 
especially,  even  when  they  are  not  the  offenders ;  it  is  said 
in  some  places  that  certain  families  forbid  fowls,  and  if  a 
woman  eats  a  fowl,  when  this  wanka  has  "caught "a man  of 
her  family,  her  child  will  suffer  from  diarrhcea,  which  can  be 
cured  by  appropriate  ceremonies. 

It  seems  clear  that  in  this  form  the  belief  is  not  totemic, 
for  the  combination  of  protective  magic  and  ritual  prohibition 
is  necessary  to  cause  the  result  in  question. 

Elsewhere  another  story  is  told  ;  if  the  eggs  of  the 
atQmbeli  (nightjar) are  broken,  women  are  "caught  "  by  the 
wanka,  and  the  children  suffer  from  diarrhcea.  Here 
apparently  the  respect  for  the  bird  is  not  associated  with 
particular  families,  and  the  resemblance  to  totemism  is  thus 
diminished,  though  in  form  the  belief  is  more  truly  totemic. 

The  most  noticeable  facts,  however,  about  Timne  forbidden 
animals  and  plants  are  :  (a)  that  each  family,  with  few  excep- 
tions, has  more  than  one,  often  bird  or  beast,  fish  and  vege- 
table ;  (b)  that  different  prohibitions  are  observed,  probably 
in  different  areas,  by  the  same  clan ;  (c)  that  the  clans  are 
highly  localised,  inasmuch  as  : 

(i)  Some  villages  may  be  found  wholly  composed  of  one 

clan  and 
(ii)  clans  are  found  in  some  districts  which  are  altogether 
unknown  in  other  areas  ;  this  is  of  course  a  natural 
result  of  patrilineal  descent ; 

and  (d)  that  a  forbidden  animal  (or  plant)  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  one  clan,  but,  like  alulu,  akoma,  and  raiiihk, 
may  be  common  to  four  or  five,  usually  in  different  combina- 
tions with  other  forbidden  animals  or  plants. 

In  all  twenty-five  clans  were  recorded  among  the  Timne,  of 


138 

which  one  had  two  alternative  names  and  another  one.  In 
the  case  of  three  clans — Sann,  Kuruma,  and  Sanko,  the  latter, 
according  to  one  informant,  the  same  as  Kagbo — the  forbid- 
den animals  were  different  in  another  locality  ;  in  two  cases 
— Bano-ura  and  Konte — two  alternative  lists  were  given  : 
and  in  the  case  of  Kamara,  four  alternative  lists. 

The  fact  that  both  Kamara  and  Bangura  are  among  the 
clans  with  alternative  names  suggests  that  there  has  been 
some  syncretism  :  and  this  view  might  seem  to  be  borne  out 
by  the  fact  that  these  same  two  clans  are  among  those  of 
whom  it  is  expressly  affirmed  that  they  are  not  exogamic 
because  "  the  family  is  wide."  Against  this,  however,  must 
be  set  the  fact  that  Dnmbwiais  also  non-exogamous  if  a  sacri- 
fice be  performed  ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  Dumbwia  is 
heterogeneous. 

The  theory  of  syncretism,  however,  while  it  accounts  for 
either  the  alternative  names  of  some  clans,  or  their  alternative 
totems,  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  satisfactory  explanation 
of  both  sets  of  phenomena.  We  can  understand  that  clans  of 
the  same  name  would  amalgamate,  and  regard  the  difference 
of  totem  as  a  minor  matter,  or  that,  given  the  same  totem, 
the  difference  of  clan  name,  which  does  not  seem  to  be 
derived  from  the  totem,  would  not  be  a  bar  to  unification  ; 
but  where  neither  of  these  visible  signs  of  unity  is  present, 
some  reasonable  ground  must  be  found  for  the  amalgamation  ; 
and  this  cannot  be  supplied  from  my  data. 

If,  however,  we  examine  the  lists  from  other  tribes,  it  is 
apparent  (a)  that  different  prohibitions  prevail  with  the  same 
name — Koranko  Kuruma,  for  example,  has  no  fire  prohibi- 
tions ;  (b)  that  some  names — Kamara,  Sise,  Konte,  etc. — must 
have  passed  from  one  tribe  to  another,  either  by  migration  of 
individuals  or  because  the  name  of  an  important  clan  like 
Kamara  tends  to  take  the  place  of  a  minor  group  with  the 
same  or  some  of  the  same  forbidden  animals. 

The  most  obvious  fact  is,  however,  that  the  number  of  for- 
bidden animals  per  family  is  much  less  than  among  the 
Timne ;  and  where  multiple  totems  are  found,  we  may  at  any 


139 


rate  suspect  Tinme  influence,  even  where  the  name  is  not 
identical. 

A  certain  number  of  animals  are  respected  by  more  than 
one  clan  in  these  tribes  also.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  where  Kaire  and  Mara  amoug  the  Koranko  both 
respect  the  leopard,  the  former  clan  is  a  foreign  product ;  and 
that  they  are  on  their  way  to  becoming  identified  ;  but  even 
if  this  is  so  we  have  no  clue  to  the  aliases  of  the  Timne 
clans  ;  for,  as  has  been  shown  above,  the  forbidden  animals 
are  rarely  if  ever  the  same. 

Limba. — The  original  clan  of  Bumban  was  Konte,  but  the 
exogamous  rule  brought  in  other  families  ;  such  was  the 
solidarity  of  the  clan  that  a  debt  lapsed  if  the  debtor  could 
not  pay  or  borrow  money  from  his  "  elder  brother." 

Koranko. — The  rule  of  exogamy  prevails  ;  an  offence 
causes  the  death  of  both  parties ;  but  sexual  relations  are 
permitted.  The  name  is  more  important  than  the  forbidden 
animal.  Koranko  Kaire  may  not  intermarry  with  Limba  Kaite. 

A  man  of  Monko  clan  who  is  made  chief  wears  baboon's 
teeth  on  his  wrist ;  a  chief  of  the  Kaire  clan  sits  on  a  leopard 
skin  and  wears  leopard's  teeth. 

The  Kaire  clan  may  not  wear  a  red  cap  nor  the  red  cloth ; 
the  Mara  clan  may  not  sit  on  a  sheepskin  ;  Konte  may  neither 
eat  nor  plant  guinea  corn. 

The  following  are  the  totems  of  some  of  the  other  tribes  ; 
the  figures  in  brackets  show  the  equivalent  Timne  clan. 

Limba  (II). 


Si. 


Sanction. 


Kamara(l) 

Kagbo  (9) 
Konte  (16) 
Utari 
Biyelimbe 


spots. 

hands  turn  white, 
teeth  fall  out. 


140 


Si. 


Totem. 


Sanction. 


6.  Xinken    ...I  crocodile. 

I  soldier  bird. 

7.  Ukoda     ...  col>. 

-i 

8.  Oboli        ...  civet    cat    (neither    killed 

nor  eaten). 

9.  Umun      ...  baboon. 


Another  informant  gave  d§ m bile,  a  fabulous  animal  like 
a  squirrel,  as  the  totem  of  [Bi]  Yedimi. 

Fur  some  portion  of  the  Limba  tribe  the  number  of  totems 
seems  to  be  limited.     The  following  lists  were  given  me  : — 


(a)  Susu  Limba. 


(b)  Kafoko  and 

SONKO. 


Totems. 


Dema 

Kam 
Kemoin 

Ninka 


Deme      ...  ...  (b)  dembele        (?no 

kola). 
Mun        ...         ...  (a)  (b)  baboon. 

Kemoin  ...  ...  (b)  huwoto    (snake), 

fo. 
Kamboin  ...  (b)  leopard. 


The  clans  are  exogamous. 

Yalunka  (III). 


Siya. 


Totem. 


1.  Kamara  (1) 

2.  Dumbwiya  ('■'>) 

3.  Sise  (4)   ... 

4.  Vatara  (19) 

5.  Kwiate    ... 

6.  Yatana    ... 


soldier  bird. 

anrof  (snake), 
crocodile, 
monkey,  baboon, 
porcupine, 
lion. 


Plate  XV 


141 

KOEANKO   (IV). 


Siye. 


Totem. 


1.  Sise  (4) 

2.  Konte(16) 

3.  Kururaa  (18)       ... 

4.  Kaire  ( =  Limb  a  Kaite) 

5.  Mara 

6.  Toli 

7.  Mnnko     

8.  Dau         


crocodile. 

crocodile,      python,      "  guinea 

corn." 
arof  ( '.  bit  is  nasi  cornis),  hawk 

[no  tire  prohibitions], 
leopard, 
leopard, 
hush  fowl,  owl. 
baboon,  ebunk. 
cricket. 


Loko  (V). 


Xde. 


Totem. 


1.  Kiowa  (1) 

2.  Lobo(4)... 

3.  Yahipomo  (9) 

4.  'JBandea  (24) 


5.  Burebo 


ran  ink,  python, 
duiker,  crocodile,  etc. 

elephant   (may   not   tread    on 

dung), 
squirrel,  baboon. 
ran  ink,  owl. 


The  Koranko  Kuruma  have  not  the  same  masom  as  the 
Timne.  One  informant  said  that  he  ate  the  fish  called 
magbel  when  he  was  young,  and  that  the  Timne  Kuruma 
believed  they  would  get  lumps  on  their  necks  if  they  did  so. 
This  was  not  mentioned  by  any  Timne. 

The  ritual  prohibitions  of  the  Koranko  Kuruma  are 
(a)  animals  that  die  a  natural  death  (probably  of  Mohammedan 
origin),  and  (b)  pig,  monkey,  and  all  animals  that  jump  from 
tree  to  tree,  for  God  changed  their  ancestors  into  these  animals 
when  he  was  angry. 


142 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  name  for  clan  is  the  same  for 
Koranko,  Yalunka,  Limba.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in 
the  agreement  of  the  two  former  names ;  but  the  identity  of 
the  Limba  name,  though  the  tribe  is  of  an  entirely  different 
linguistic  stock,  raises  a  suspicion  that  their  totemism  is 
borrowed. 

Delafosse  (Haut-Senegal,  Niger,  I,  135-142,  III,  108)  gives 
the  names  and  tana  of  many  Mandingo  and  other  tribes  ;  of 
these,  seven  are  also  among  the  Timne  and  Limba  totems, 
but  only  one  of  the  few  tana  recorded  is  identical.  Delafosse, 
however,  states  that  the  tana  are  numerous,  and  vary  for 
each  clan. 


143 


XV.— SECRET  SOCIETIES. 

POEO. 

The  Poro  secret  society  is  known  in  the  Mendi,  Bulani, 
and  Timne  tribes,  but  there  can  be  very  little  doubt  that  the 
Timne  have  derived  it  from  one  of  the  other  tribes ;  for  not 
only  is  there  a  tradition  to  this  effect  but  the  limitation  of 
the  society  to  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the  Timne  area 
would  make  its  importation  from  outside  extremely  prob- 
able, even  if  no  other  evidence  were  available. 

The  fact  that  the  chief  of  Poro,  in  the  Yoni  country,  is 
known  as  Bai  Sherbro  suggests  that  it  is  from  the  Sherbro 
(Bulam)  tribe  that  Poro  rites  were  learned.  This  is  also  the 
record  of  tradition.  I  was  told  at  MatotQka  that  the  Bulam 
brought  PQro. 

A  number  of  writers  have  recorded  facts  about  this  secret 
society,  chiefly  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  found  in  the  Mendi 
tribe  ;  on  the  whole,  comparatively  little  has  been  published 
about  the  Timne  form.  The  older  travellers  who  mention  it 
describe  it  as  governing  the  country,  and  state  that  Poro 
members  go  about  seizing  the  property  of  non-members,  both 
of  which  are  reported  of  the  Timne  as  well  as  of  the  other 
tribes.  Little  or  nothing,  however,  has  been  reported  of  the 
method  of  initiation — the  boy's  Po.ro,  as  it  may  be  called,  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  Poro  which  is  concerned  with  judicial 
or  other  functions. 

There  is  a  clear  relation  between  the  chieftainship  and  the 
Poro  society,  for  the  latter,  where  it  exists,  corresponds  to 
the  Rabenle  or  Maneke  Society  of  other  areas,  whose  func- 
tion is,  amongst  other  things,  to  maintain  the  chief's 
authority.  So  close  is  the  connection  that  chiefs  may  be 
spoken  of  as  Iiabenle  or  Poro  chiefs. 


144 

Bulam — A  certain  amount  of  information  was  obtained 
as  to  Sherbro  Poro.  The  names  show  obvious  phonetic  corre- 
spondence to  those  of  the  Timne.  Thus  we  find  Taso 
(  =  Kasi),  Laga  (  =  Eaka),  and  Kamegotrun  (?  =  kamebwi)  in 
the  sense  of  Poro  bush. 

The  bush  is  cleared,  and  a  palm  screen  called  kani  put 
at  the  entrance,  the  gate  of  which  is  known  as  kamela. 
Dim omoi,  twisted  on  poles,  is  the  sign  of  the  Poro  bush. 
Inside  is  a  place  where  ordinary  matters  may  be  discussed, 
and  a  second  kani  as  a  screen  before  the  inner  "  bush." 
There  are  small  huts  (baf  e)  for  the  candidates. 

Taso  is  supreme  in  the  bush  ;  he  wears  a  high  hat  (tange- 
tanga)  of  wood  and  rattan,  with  the  skulls  and  thigh-bones 
of  former  Taso,  who  are  taken  to  the  bush  to  die ;  feathers  of 
the  bulo  (greater  plantain-eater)  also  form  part  of  it,  and  he 
wears  a  dress  (jambe)  of  fibre  of  dubwi  (raphia  vin.) 
made  into  a  net.  Ked  and  white  paint  and  soot  are  on  his 
face  and  arms;  he  wears  dance  leglets  (bowi)  on  his  knees, 
and  similar  objects  (bakumabenge)  on  arms  and  waist.  He 
comes  out  at  times  when  Poro  is  in  the  bush,  and  members 
attend  him  with  tortoise  shells,  saying:  "  0  ndumbi  wao" 
('•  Taso  is  come  "). 

Laga'  is  the  messenger.  He  is  concerned  with  seizing 
candidates  and  the  punishment  of  offences ;  his  face  is 
spotted  like  Taso's  ;  he  carries  a  wooden  shield  (re)  aud 
sword.  His  followers  are  allowed  to  catch  any  fowls  they 
find  in  the  town,  but  the  chief  redeems  them  with  cloth  and 
rice.  He  addresses  members  by  saying:  "Heiiga  Soko" 
("Men  of  Poro");  and  they  answer:  "  m,  m,  m,"  "wain, 
wain"  (i.e.,  laughing);  then  all  shout  "  hii."  The  usual 
salutation  is  "  Sokoti " — head  of  Poro. 

Both  Taso  and  Laga'  are  buried  naked,  wrapped  in 
leaves,  in  the  Po.ro  bush  ;  they  are  first  examined  and  the 
spleen  inspected  to  see  if  they  were  witches  ;  if  not,  the  gafe 
(or  krifi)  comes  out  and  cries  in  falsetto:  "kongo  yafe," 
"clean  telly  krifi." 

When  a  boy  is  to  be  initiated  into  Poi,  he  may  go  volun- 


145 

tarily  or  be  seized:  an  uninitiated  person  is  called  powa; 
the  gaf  e  takes  him  (so-called  from  the  gafe  or  horn  through 
which  he  speaks).  Seki  (=  Soko)  follow  the  gafe,  and  they 
halt  just  outside  the  town  to  shout:  "  he,  he,  he,,"  holding 
their  noses  to  disguise  their  voices  ;  the  women  escape  to 
the  bush. 

The  gafe  makes  a  sound  "m,  m,  m,"  and  a  man 
(ngahomwi)  who  holds  a  folded  mat  strikes  it  on  the 
ground.  This  is  to  represent  the  sound  made  when  the 
gafe  breaks  the  head  of  the  candidate  (ngafe  ngjwi 
ngunga).  The  sijki  take  the  candidate  to  the  bush,  and  he 
passes  straight  in. 

The  biri  (marks)  are  made  with  a  hook  and  knife,  and 
palm  oil  is  rubbed  on  the  cuts.  As  they  are  healing  they 
are  rubbed  with  maize  to  make  the  keloids  stand  up.  When 
they  are  putting  on  the  mark  they  say,  "Opon"  ("For 
ever  "),  and  the  answer  is  "  o." 

Bunu  is  the  wife  of  gafe,  and  when  initiants  go  out  of  the 
bush,  they  make  sounds  with  their  hands  in  front  of  their 
mouths.  Women  keep  out  of  their  way.  Women  may  be 
warned  by  the  shout,  "Bunu  a  warn  a,"  and  they  lie  down 
flat  and  cover  their  faces.  Sometimes  the}'  say  that  Bunu  is 
hungry,  and  men  go  round  to  collect. 

Before  the  boys  leave  the  bush,  on  a  moonlight  night  they 
perform  a  ceremony.  The  night  is  called  gafe  yonlegbe — 
day  to  beat  gafe's  belly,  because  he  has  eaten  them  all. 

Their  old  clothes  are  put  in  a  heap  and  tied  tightly ;  the 
members  drag  them  round  the  town  and  beat  them.  G-afe 
waits  in  the  bush,  and  the  others  say  in  falsetto  :  "batilihge 
siane"  ("  Give  us  the  people's  children").  Gafe  replies: 
"  o  mqne,  mQne,  mone  "  ("  0,  trouble  "). 

The  boys  are  then  carried  into  the  town  on  men's 
shoulders,  with  their  feet  held.  Soon  after  this  members 
follow  gafe  into  the  bush  and  uproot  trees  or  break  off 
branches,  to  represent  the  efforts  of  gafe  to  avoid  being 
detained. 

A  small  palm-tree  (  =  gafe)  is  dragged  into  the  town  and 

L 


146 

then  into  the  bush.  Before  dawn  the  half -initiated  hoys 
(bangan)  are  taken  to  the  uanganejta,  and  the  hoys  wash 
behind  the  house  with  water  fetched  by  the  women ;  their 
heads  have  already  been  shaved  in  the  bush,  when  gafe's 
belly  was  beaten.  No  woman  may  see  them  till  their  hair 
is  grown.  All  the  boys  wear  long  caps,  for  they  are  very 
young,  and  their  heads  are  soft. 

They  sleep  in  the  house  three  nights,  and  are  then  dressed 
and  put  in  the  bari ;  they  may  walk  out  accompanied  by  a 
suki,  and  must  carry  on  conversation  through  him.  They 
sleep  three  nights  in  the  bari,  and  a  woman  gives  them 
their  Poro  names. 

When  they  are  to  be  brought  out,  Taso,  who  is  the  speaker 
of  the  gafe,  puts  his  foot  out  and  holds  the  boy  by  the 
hand ;  the  boy  puts  one  foot  on  Taso's,  who  lifts  him  out 
with  his  foot,  saying:  "6  pon  6."  A  young  man  just  out  of 
Poro  bush  is  called  si  mo. 

The  name  given  to  a  woman  initiated  into  Poro  is 
mamboi.  She  is  put  in  if  she  falls  sick  after  learning 
something  of  Poro  secrets ;  she  stays  eight  days  in  the  bush, 
if  initiation  ceremonies  are  not  going  on,  and  lives  in  the 
baf  e  (palm-leaf  hut)  in  the  night ;  if  initiation  ceremonies 
are  being  performed,  she  comes  out  with  the  other  initiants. 
A  woman  must  die  in  the  Poro  bush  and  be  buried  there 
if  she  has  been  initiated.  Some  account  of  Bulom  Poro  was 
printed  in  the  Royal  Gazette  of  Jan.  1824. 

OTHEE  SOCIETIES. 

Ra'benle. — The  Ooenle  (pi.  Ilabenle)  Society — also  known 
as  Katinka  Maneke,  or  Maneke — corresponds  to  some  extent 
to  Poro.  There  is  perhaps  a  certain  amount  of  jealousy 
between  them,  as  each  claims  power  over  the  other.  The 
Eabenle  Society,  however,  is  more  restricted  in  influence  and 
numbers. 

Their  functions  are  connected  with  the  election  and 
crowning  of  a  new  paramount  chief,  with  the  curing  of 
diseases  caused   by   infraction  of   laws  against  incest,  etc., 


Plate  XVI. 


YAU'XKA    MAX. 


YALUNKA   WOMAN. 


147 

with  the  recovery  of  debts  to  some  extent,  and  with  cere- 
monies to  promote  the  growth  of  the  crops.  Members 
appear  to  be  chosen  by  the  existing  members  of  the  society, 
but  take  their  places  only  after  the  old  ones  die  ;  they  are 
therefore  rather  office-holders  than  members  of  a  secret 
society.  They  are  sometimes  said  to  be  the  krifi  of  the 
country  and  bempa  in  their  society  meeting-place,  Turuma, 
which  was  explained  to  mean  "  purifying  stones." 

The  Eabenle  complete  the  ceremonies  for  a  dead  chief ; 
have  then  to  shut  up  the  new  chief  in  the  kanta.  On 
each  occasion  the  mask  is  worn  ;  it  is  sometimes  known  as 
aron  etoma  ;  toma  is  said  to  mean  "forbidden,"  but  it 
seems  to  be  the  name  of  a  tree.  They  also  take  out  the 
mask  when  a  member  dies. 

When  a  man  falls  sick  for  his  misdeeds,  the  head  of  the 
society  (sometimes  called  Banekelema)  takes  rice  to  Turuma 
for  sacrifice.  Leaves  are  squeezed  in  water  and  a  wooden 
basin  held  to  the  patient's  mouth  and  then  taken  away,  then 
given  to  him  again,  and  he  drinks  four  times.  The  words 
spoken  are  :  "  These  are  born  in  the  world  and  these  are  the 
old  krifi ;  so  we  come  and  ask  you  to  give  this  man  health 
and  long  life." 

Anyone  who  is  sterile  on  account  of  incest  is  stripped  and 
taken  to  Turuma,  where  a  dog  is  sacrificed  and  eaten  by  the 
Rabenle,  with  the  exception  of  the  head,  which  is  left  for  the 
krifi.  The  pair  are  tied  together  and  seated  on  the  stones, 
after  which  they  make  confession,  saying  they  are  brought 
to  the  ancestor  that  they  may  lie  no  longer  sterile.  The 
man  may  be  flogged  with  whips ;  the  woman  is  washed  and 
rubbed  with  mafoi.  An  ill-doer  in  the  society  merely  breaks 
a  certain  leaf  and  chews  it. 

They  come  out  after  a  fire  and  sing.  "When  they  have 
cleared  away  the  ashes,  they  get  leaves  and  sprinkle  a  decoc- 
tion. If  the  house  were  rebuilt  before  this  ceremony  the 
town  would  be  burnt  again. 

When  they  crops  are  bad,  they  collect  fowls  and  rice  and 
get  their  medicine,  which  is  scattered  over  the  farms.     They 

l  2 


148 

dance  in  the  town  two  days  and  nights,  and  sacrifice  an 
animal  when  the  ceremonies  are  finished. 

Their  messenger  is  Nemankera,  who  has  a  long  wooden 
beard  on  his  mask  (Plate  V). 

They  claim  to  be  able  to  "  swear "  and  make  a  man's 
joints  stiff,  to  prepare  a  liquor  and  cause  a  Soko  man 
to  die. 

No  uncircumcised  man  may  see  them,  nor  any  woman,  or 
their  noses  will  drop  off.  Even  the  shadow  of  Maneke  should 
not  be  seen.     A  man  forfeits  a  red  bead. 

A  woman  who  has  thus  offended  is  taken  to  Turuma  and 
seated  on  the  stones  under  a  tree.  Ashes  are  strewn  and  her 
offence  recited ;  then  the  woman  confesses.  A  chicken  is 
brought,  and  her  toe  touched  with  it ;  its  head  is  pulled  off 
and  thrown  on  the  ground,  and  if  it  does  not  move  the  omen 
is  good.  The  chicken  is  eaten  by  children,  and  the  woman 
washes  after  being  rubbed  with  mafoi. 

In  some  places  a  woman  is  head  of  the  society.  She  may 
not  eat  food  cooked  by  a  woman  who  has  had  connection  the 
night  lie  fore,  nor  sit  on  the  same  mat  as  a  young  man  who 
has  had  connection  the  night  before.  Xo  woman  is  to  see 
where  she  washes,  nor  to  see  her  head,  nor  to  eat  rice  that 
was  being  cooked  when  the  society  comes  out. 

Tiie  mask  is  called  aroii  (Plate  Y)  and  the  dress  of  palm 
fibre  natal ;  it  is  worn  for  a  dance  in  the  bush  at  the  death 
of  the  chief.  When  they  "  swear,"  the  head  woman  of  the 
society  holds  in  the  left  hand  bells  called  ewur.  Torna 
wood  may  not  lie  put  on  the  fire  by  a  member,  or  he  will 
burn  himself. 

All  Kabenle  chiefs  have  an  iron  object  called  kontqii, 
which  is  used  as  a  bell  (Plate  III)  ;  it  is  struck  with  a  ring. 
The  kapor  should  not  lick  his  thumb  when  he  eats  rice, 
because  the  ring  is  worn  on  the  thumb.  liabenle  chiefs  are 
called  ambai  na  konteh;  other  chiefs  are  ambai  na 
qpcjse,  chiefs  of  the  elephant's  tail,  which  they  send  with 
a  messenger  to  authenticate  him. 

A  Soko  man  can  be  made  chief  and  initiated  into  liauenle 


149 

if  he  gives  up  Poro;  he  pays  the  money  to  get  mafoi  for 
him,  and  they  take  him  to  Turuma.  The  Kabenle  then  talk 
to  the  krifi,  and  say  they  wish  to  make  a  Soko  man  chief; 
then  the  orok  takes  the  konteh  and  strikes  it;  bread  is 
sprinkled  on  the  stones  that  represent  the  krifi,  and  the 
candidate  drinks  mafQi  in  silence.  He  must  not  enter  the 
Poro  bush  again. 

Kofo. — The  Kofo  Society  is  important  in  the  Limba  and 
Sanda  Timne  countries.  They  claim  to  be  able  to  perform 
':  miracles,"  such  as  loosing  themselves  from  ropes,  cooking 
at  the  top  of  a  house  without  fire,  passing  through  doors, 
making  themselves  invisible,  etc.,  and  each  member  is  said  to 
have  a  guardian  who  helps  him. 

They  are  said  to  be  able  to  bring  leopards  and  snakes  from 
the  bush ;  but  I  did  not  establish  whether  these  are  the 
guardians.  A  Kofo  member  can  cut  himself  and  come  out 
from  the  house  unharmed.  They  shoot  at  a  candidate  and 
he  dies ;  he  is  then  wrapped  in  a  coarse  mat  and  left  on  the 
road ;  if  it  is  the  west  road,  he  returns  by  the  east  road  when 
he  comes  to  life  and  vice  versa. 

Fire  should  not  be  pointed  at  members,  nor  water  thrown 
on  them  ;  a  non-member  must  not  eat  rice  with  a  Kofo  man 
and  then  shake  his  hand  because  the  rice  is  too  hot,  or  the 
.Kofo  man  cannot  eat  with  him. 

Kofo  members  are  said  to  punish  people  by  means  of 
fahge;  they  come  like  a  dream  and  seem  to  beat  a  man; 
when  he  wakes,  his  body  is  heavy.  They  may  wait  on  the 
top  of  a  tree  on  the  road,  and  as  the  man  passes  a 
stick  breaks  and  something  drops  in  his  eye  and  he  sees 
the  Kofo  people. 

A  victim  goes  to  a  mo  rim  an  and  gets  a  banana  stump 
at  which  he  shoots  with  bow  and  arrows,  and  lays  the  bow 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  stump ;  this  diminishes  the  power  of 
evil-doers. 

When  two  fahge  men  fight,  there  is  a  great  wind. 

Katokodo. — The  Katokodo  Society  claim  extraordinary 
powers  like  the   Kofo  ;  but  at  a  meeting  of  the  society  at 


150 

which  I  was  present  the  only  "  miracle  "  shown  me  was  the 
passing  of  a  woman's  bone  hairpin  up  the  nostril. 

The  krifi  is  a  stone  and  a  small  ant-hill;  it  is  called 
katagbempi  and  is  represented  by  a  man  wearing  a  mask 
with  holes,  surrounded  by  cowries  and  feathers,  for  the 
eyes  and  mouth ;  he  holds  a  calabash  before  his  mouth  when 
he  speaks  in  the  town  and  carries  a  bull-roarer  (Qsip 
Katokodo,  the  leopard  of  Katokodo)  ;  he  is  said  to  swallow 
non-members.  A  four-foot-long  horn  of  cow-skin  is  used  as 
a  trumpet ;  the  members  sometimes  dance  over  crossed 
sticks. 

Another  society  named  KambonbrjnkQ  exists  in  places 
where  there  are  blacksmiths,  but  I  obtained  no  details 
about  it. 

In  the  central  Sanda  country  I  found  a  society  called 
Agbaia ;  but  this  seems  to  be  rather  a  co-operative  society 
which  aids  the  chief  to  entertain  strangers,  and  furnishes  a 
cow  for  sacrifice  if  a  parent  of  any  of  the  members  dies. 

Kumpamatir  (see  also  p.  36)  comes  out  when  the  rice  is 
growing,  to  protect  it  from  witches,  who  fall  sick  when  he 
conies  out  and  bleed  at  the  nose  ;  they  are  also  said  to  groan 
like  Kumpamatir. 

Kumpamatir  is  said  to  live  near  water  and  to  be  called  by 
the  beating  of  two  sticks.  If  anyone  stands  so  that  the 
wind  blows  from  Kumpamatir  to  him,  he  will  get "  crawcraw." 

Kaloko. — A  society  (?)  of  unknown  purpose  is  known  as 
Kaloko  ;  they  get  qnepgl  at  night  and  tie  all  over  a  person, 
with  a  bunch  in  front;  they  sing,  "Kaloko  beko"; 
"maionio  Kaloko";  "Kaloko  is  coming";  "we  beg 
Kaloko.'" 

Boibente  is  a  boys'  society  ;  they  fix  katap  leaf  in  a 
split  stick  and  put  it  in  their  mouths  to  produce  a  peculiar 
sound  ;  this  leaf  they  call  the  krifi  or  boibente. 

Kumunko. — Another  young  men's  society  is  Ankumuiiko  ; 
it  is  simply  a  dance  club  and  claims  no  powers  of  curing ;  it 
appears  at  harvest  time.  They  appear  at  night  and  dance 
and  beat  each  other- ;  when  they  sit  down,  no  one  must  make 


151 

the  slightest  sound.  A  man  represents  the  krifi,  which  is  a 
small  hole  on  the  east  road  called  ankonto,  with  sticks 
round  it ;  a  man  says  "  E,  konioi"  three  times,  and  they 
reply,  "  wunyu"  The  human  krifi  has  a  grass  dress  of 
kalolum  and  carries  in  his  hand  a  bull-roarer  of  palm  midrib 
with  palm-fibre  rope;  the  bullroarer  is  called  "okrifi 
kotoii  santok,"  "the  krifi  that  walks  on  his  nails"  (i.e.,  on 
tiptoe,  softly). 

They  sing  before  each  door,  holding  the  skin  of  the  throat 
with  one  hand  and  striking  Adam's  apple  with  the  other ; 
the  chorus  hums  in  falsetto. 

The  "father"  is  called  Anduku ;  they  bempa  at  his 
enclosure,  which  has  sand  in  the  middle.  The  sacrificer  is 
the  one  who  initiates  boys  into  the  society  ;  they  are  beaten 
with  small  whips.  It  is  not  clear  whether  Duku  is  the  same 
as  the  krifi. 

Bundu. — Of  the  women's  societies  the  most  important  is 
Bundu,  which  is  initiatory  in  its  character.  An  essential 
feature  is  the  excision  of  the  clitoris,  which  is,  in  other  negro 
areas,  practised  as  a  simple  rite  not  associated  with  a  secret 
society. 

A  man  who  enters  the  Bundu  bush  may  get  elephantiasis, 
or  his  belly  swells ;  he  drinks  mafoi  and  rubs  it  on  his  body. 
He  is  rubbed  with  white  clay  and  pays  a  fine  of  £4. 

Eamena  is  a  woman's  society,  but  men  may  also  join; 
they  hang  long  strings  of  cowries,  and  come  out  when  a 
chief  is  crowned.  Like  the  Eabenle,  they  cure  people  who 
violate  masam.  They  have  a  special  house  in  some  places, 
known  as  Eomari. 

Earuba. — A  society  known  as  Earuba  belongs  to  the 
women  of  the  Akwono  family  :  ruba  means  "blessing"  and 
the  function  it  fulfils  is  to  sprinkle  the  farms  with  medicine 
to  get  good  rice;  the  eldest  daughter  of  each  woman  becomes 
a  member.  The  graves  of  women  who  belong  to  the  society 
are  near  the  house  and  have  a  scpiare  of  logs  round  them 
and  a  pole  stuck  in  the  ground  with  three  rags  on  the 
sides. 


152 

The  Kure  Society  is  simply  for  dancing ;  a  girl  joins  at 
live  or  six  years  of  age  ;  she  is  dressed  for  a  dance  in  palm- 
fibre  dyed  black  and  wears  rattles  on  her  feet ;  when  they 
have  finished  the  course  of  four  months'  tuition  they  are 
redeemed  for  £1. 

Other  women's  societies  are  Aiyasi  and  Koliumho. 
Aiyasi  is  said  to  wear  cowry  necklets  and  caps  ornamented 
with  cowries.  They  rub  themselves  with  black  stuff  when 
they  come  out. 

In  the  Bulam  country  is  the  Ankoi  Society :  no  one  may 
hit  a  woman  of  this  society  on  the  head  with  his  hand  or  she 
will  faint.  When  they  dance,  all  doors  are  "  like  walls  "  and 
they  have  to  beg  the  woman  who  has  '•'  hidden  "  them  all. 
They  can  draw  snakes  from  the  bush  to  the  house. 

The  Kinki  Society  is  said  to  have  been  imported  from  a 
country  three  months'  journey  away  to  the  east,  where  only 
women  live ;  each  woman  has  her  own  house,  and  when  a 
man  goes  to  the  country  for  medicine  he  stands  near  the 
water  and  breaks  a  stick  or  throws  a  stone,  and  she  takes  him 
home  at  night ;  they  live  together  till  she  is  pregnant,  or, 
according  to  another  account,  till  the  first  child  is  born;  if  it 
is  a  male,  he  is  killed  and  used  to  make  the  Suka  medicine. 

Koranko. — Bundu  was  formerly  unknown  here,  as 
among  the  Limba.  But  there  is  a  woman's  society,  called 
SqgQre,  which  comes  out  at  night  in  the  dry  season. 

A  man's  society  is  known  as  Andomba;  they  use  a 
double  gong  and  drum ;  iron  should  not  be  pointed  at  this 
society ;  when  they  come  out  to  kill  anyone,  a  member  is 
said  to  be  warned  by  their  turning  the  sword  handle  back. 

Komoiyare  is  the  tutelar  of  the  Kono  Society,  which 
comes  out  at  night  and  picks  oranges,  roots  up  cassava,  and 
consumes  all  the  vegetables. 

Loko. — The  Kuba  Society  is  known  as  Dubai  a. 

Limba.  — In  this  tribe  the  Kofo  and  'Bah bah  Societies 
are  the  most  important. 


Plate  XVII. 


153 


XVI.— LAW. 

Recognised  offences  were  comparatively  few,  though  more 
numerous  than  among  tribes  more  remote  from  civilisation. 
Murder,  rape,  theft,  arson,  assault,  disobedience  or  disrespect 
to  the  chief  or  sub-chief,  removing  landmarks,  firing  the  bush 
too  early  and  cutting  palm  nuts  too  soon,  or  injuring  young 
trees,  are  among  the  offences  mentioned  by  informants. 

One  of  the  most  serious  offences  was  to  knock  off  a 
paramount  chief's  "  crown,"  which  might  entail  a  fine  of  £80  ; 
beating  his  drum  was  forbidden  in  certain  areas  only,  and 
was  punished  by  a  fine  of  £20  and  a  cow. 

Among  other  offences  may  be  mentioned  :  dying  of  snake 
bite — the  family  was  fined  £8  ;  dying  of  a  fall  from  a  palm 
tree ;  being  killed  by  a  leopard  ;  but  in  the  latter  case  the 
town  was  fined,  because  the  animal  must  lie  a  witch. 

Civil  eases  were  dealt  with  by  the  sub-chiefs,  or  the 
paramount  chief,  according  to  the  importance  of  the  matter. 
The  parties  state  their  side  of  the  question,  and  interminable 
arguments  go  on  over  the  smallest  points.  In  the  case 
outlined  below,  the  debate  went  on  for  nearly  three  days, 
each  side  being  mulcted  by  the  two  chiefs  who  heard  it, 
firstly  15s.  for  the  summons  and  the  answer,  secondly  4s.  for 
subsistence  money  for  the  chiefs,  and  thirdly  lO.s.  hearing 
fee,  in  all  29s.  each.  They  also  deposited  £2  each  security 
for  the  fine  to  be  imposed  on  the  loser,  the  whole  £4  to  be 
adjudged  to  the  winner. 

The  case  was  an  exceedingly  simple  one.  Mela,  a  fisher- 
man, had  supplied  sixpennyworth  of  fish  on  credit  to  Sedu, 
who  refused  to  pay  when  he  was  asked  for  the  money. 

Mela  reported  the  matter  to  Seka,  asking  him  to  recover 
the  money;    Seka  received  an  axe  worth  Is.  and  a  gown 


154 

worth  2s.  6(7.  in  satisfaction  of  the  debt  of  6d.,  but  refused 
to  hand  over  anything  to  Mela  and  denied  having  received 
anything,  when  Mela  made  enquiry. 

Thereupon  Mela  again  approached  Sedu  and  was  paid  6c/. 
Sedu,  however,  said  he  had  been  summoned  before  Se,ka  and 
had  already  paid.  Thereupon  Mela  replied  :  "  I  do  not  care  ; 
he  refuses  to  pay  me  ;  you  can  do  with  him  as  you  please." 
Thereupon  Sedu  summoned  Seka  before  Bai  Lanteli. 

Instead  of  filing  an  answer  to  this  summons,  Seka 
summoned  Mela,  saying  that  he  must  return  Sedu's  money, 
as  he,  Se,ka,  had  no  quarrel  with  him. 

After  a  lengthy  hearing  the  case  was  given  against  Mela, 
on  the  ground  that  "  you  cannot  crown  a  chief  and  then 
uncrown  him." 

1  made  more  than  one  effort  to  understand  the  point  of 
view  and  to  discover  why  Seka  was  able  to  summons  Mela  at 
all,  but  without  success. 

Finally  on  coming  into  another  chiefdom,  I  was  told  by 
the  chief,  who  had  some  reputation  as  a  jurist,  that  the 
decision  was  wholly  wrong. 

The  remedy  for  such  a  wrong  judgment  is  to  carry  the 
case  to  another  paramount  chief ;  he  sends  a  present  to  the 
original  judge  and  he  in  turn  sends  the  other  party  to  the 
case.  The  new  judge  reverses  the  appeal  by  fining  the  loser 
and  handing  to  the  winner  all  the  moneys  paid  in  the  case. 

In  the  present  case  Mela  had  lost  all  his  money,  £3  10s. 
or  more,  and  was  totally  unable  to  travel  to  another 
chiefdom  to  have  his  case  reopened. 

Murder. — The  simple  method  of  an  eye  for  an  eye  was  the 
method  of  dealing  with  the  murderer  in  the  more  remote 
areas.  The  family  of  the  dead  man  refused  compensation  ;  the 
murderer  was  led  out  and  shot  by  the  dead  man's  brother  ;  his 
body  was  allowed  to  rot. 

If,  however,  the  murderer  escaped  and  compensation  were 
paid  in  his  absence,  he  might  return  later  without 
formalities. 

A  more  civilised  district  could  kill  a  murderer  only  without 


155 

the  chief's  knowledge  ;  if  the  chief  heard  of  the  case,  each 
party  gave  a  slave  to  the  king,  probably  as  surety  for  the 
suspension  of  the  quarrel ;  a  Freetown  girl  was  handed  over 
by  the  chief  to  the  dead  man's  family  and  each  of  the  parties 
gave  a  cow  for  sacrifice,  so  that  the  country  might  have 
peace  ;  a  share  of  each  cow  was  given  to  both  parties. 

The  woman  was  called  lu mo  (trust)  or  selo  (agreement) 
and  took  over  the  forbidden  marriage  degrees  of  the  family 
she  was  given  to.  She  might  even  take  property  if  there 
were  no  male  heir. 

A  man  who  murdered  his  wife  had  to  give  a  woman  of  his 
own  family  as  compensation  to  his  wife's  family.  This  sug- 
gests the  former  prevalence  of  matrilineal  descent ;  but  as  a 
precisely  similar  rule  is  found  in  Australia  among  tribes  that 
reckon  descent  in  the  male  line,  and  have,  so  far  as  can  be 
seen,  always  so  reckoned  it,  the  argument  is  far  from  cogent. 

A  woman  on  whose  account  murder  was  done  was  handed 
over  to  the  chief,  and  he  or  his  son  might  marry  her. 

If  a  woman  killed  a  man,  she  was  handed  over  and  her 
family  fined  in  addition. 

In  some  places  an  independent  person  was  selected  to 
shoot  the  murderer,  and  hid  on  the  road ;  the  murderer  was 
stripped  naked.     His  own  people  buried  him  naked. 

The  person  handed  over  to  the  family  of  the  murdered 
man  might  be  a  small  boy ;  he  should  not  be  a  brother  of  the 
murderer;  he  was  known  as  kabol  kaboma  (sweeper  of  the 
grave),  and  was  adopted  into  the  family.  If  a  girl  was 
handed  over,  one  of  the  brothers  might  marry  her. 

In  many  cases  a  fine  was  payable  to  the  chief  for  the 
blood  spilt  on  the  ground. 

If  one  brother  killed  another,  it  was  regarded  as  a  family 
matter. 

If  a  body  were  found  in  the  bush,  the  family  (akur) 
concerned  buried  it  and  sent  people  to  shout  at  night,  "  We 
have  found  a  corpse,"  and  enquire  who  the  culprit  was.  If 
no  reply  came,  "  medicines  "  were  obtained  and  taken  to  the 
spot  where  the  body  was  found,  and  the  same  formula  recited 


156 

with  the  addition  :  "  if  it  is  God  who  killed  him,  there  is 
no  palaver :  if  not,  you  medicines  must  find  the  murderer."' 
After  a  time,  stones  were  taken  to  divine  if  the  murderer 
had  been  "caught."  If  the  murderer  confessed,  his  family 
(akur)  was  notified  and  paid  £-t  to  the  chief,  disclaiming 
responsibility  :  this  was  paid  to  the  dead  man's  family  and 
a  sacrifice  offered.  The  "  medicine  "  was  expected  to  kill  the 
murderer. 

Homicide. — Where  malevolent  intention  was  absent, 
responsibility  rested  as  much  on  the  family  (akur)  as  on  the 
actual  culprit ;  the  payment  might  be  as  little  as  £4,  and 
a  cow  for  sacrifice,  shares  of  which  would  go  both  to  the 
father's  and  mother's  people  of  the  dead  man. 

AVhen  a  hunter  killed  a  man,  he  put  his  gun  on  the  corpse 
before  he  went  to  confess.  He  was  often  required  to  swear 
that  the  matter  was  an  accident. 

A  substitute  might  also  be  handed  over  to  "  sweep  the 
grave  "  in  the  case  of  accidental  killing. 

Theft. — A  thief  might  be  flogged  or  sold  or  his  hands  cut 
off;  it  was  commonly  regarded  as  legal  to  shoot  at  a  thief  who 
came  in  the  night,  though  some  were  of  opinion  that  a  hue 
and  cry  should  be  raised. 

An  habitual  thief,  male  or  female,  would  be  sold  by  his 
family  (akur). 

Theft  from  the  family  was  less  heinous  than  theft  from 
outsiders  ;  the  offender  might  be  stocked,  even  an  elder  brother, 
for  "aiyoka  antase  toi,"  "cassava  is  never  too  old  to  burn." 

The  "  stocks ''  were  also  a  recognised  punishment  for  minor 
thefts  from  outsiders ;  the  actual  penalty  was  that  the  thief 
was  fastened  to  a  post  on  a  head  man's  veranda. 

Among  small  thefts  were  reckoned  taking  a  goat,  a  few 
sticks  of  cassava,  a  little  rice,  cloth,  though  rice-stealing 
generally  was  regarded  as  a  serious  matter. 

Kidnapping,  stealing  a  cow,  a  number  of  goats,  or  a  bushel 
of  rice,  were  major  thefts. 

Repayment  of  treble  the  value,  e.g.  three  cows  for  one, 
enabled  the  thief  to  escape  the  penalty  of  his  deeds. 


157 

A  thief  was  sometimes  called  kalolum,  because  he  put 
kalolum  grass  on  his  face  as  a  mask. 

Susu. — A  murderer  was  shot  or  clubbed  ;  but  no  blood 
should  run  on  the  ground  or  the  executioner  would  die. 

If  the  murderer  ran,  compensation  (faxa  nafuli)  might 
be  paid ;  a  slave  was  handed  over  but  not  adopted,  for 
adoption  was  not  recognised,  though  a  good  slave  might  be 
made  guardian  to  young  children. 

A  woman  who  committed  a  murder  was  not  killed. 

A  thief  in  the  same  town  was  chained  and  redeemed  by  his 
family  for  £1,  if  he  had  taken  nothing;  otherwise  the  price 
was  £4. 

A  thief  or  troublesome  man  might  be  ostracised 
(imasuyi  iyitera),  and  a  sacrifice  was  necessary  before  he 
could  be  taken  back. 

Limba. — Murder. — A  murderer  was  killed  :  no  compensa- 
tion could  be  accepted ;  fighting  might  take  place  and  one 
informant  had  seen  forty-three  people  killed,  on  one  occasion, 
in  a  town  of  ninety  houses.  If  the  murderer  ran,  his  relatives 
would  be  attacked  and  killed. 

In  case  of  homicide  one  cow  was  sacrificed,  and  one  given 
to  the  chief ;  compensation  £4  and  one  cow  was  paid  to  the 
relatives.  At  Bumban  a  slave  was  paid,  who  took  the  dead 
man's  place  and  even  took  over  his  wife ;  but  according  to 
my  informant  he  would  not  inherit  property.  The  body  was 
buried  by  the  chief. 

Theft. — A  thief  is  fined  treble  the  value  of  the  stolen 
object  ;  but  if  it  was  of  small  value,  one  or  two  cows  might  be 
demanded,  or  the  thief  might  be  flogged. 

For  the  second  offence  the  man  might  be  sold,  but  if  he 
ran  and  his  relatives  paid  £4,  he  could  return. 


158 


XVII.— SLAVERY. 

Slaves  were  divided  into  house  slaves  and  ordinary  slaves  ; 
the  ranks  of  the  latter  were  recruited  from  captives  in  war 
and  occasionally  from  pawns  pledged  in  respect  of  a  debt  and 
not  redeemed. 

A  house  or  domestic  slave  (oliso)  was  born  in  his  master's 
house  and  could  only  be  sold  for  a  grave  offence  ;  they  should 
be  treated  like  sons  and  might  get  land  from  their  masters 
which  their  children  would  inherit,  unless  they  were  sold  for 
misl  ichaviour. 

Slaves  are,  however,  usually  inferior  to  freeborn  in  physical 
development,  and  though  the  lot  of  the  house  slaves,  who 
alone  survive  under  present  conditions,  is  doubtless  better 
than  that  of  ordinary  slaves,  they  can  hardly  be  considered 
as  equals,  mentally  or  physically,  of  the  rest  of  the 
community. 

In  addition  to  the  supply  of  slaves  for  home  use,  a 
considerable  export  trade  existed  to  the  Susu  country  and 
Futa,  and  one  of  my  informants  stated  that  as  many  as 
twenty  slave-traders  were  in  Mabum  at  one  time  for  the 
purchase  of  slaves  ;  the  ordinary  price  was  £4,  but  £5  would 
be  paid  for  a  pregnant  woman.  It  was  generally  considered 
that  a  bought  slave  was  superior  to  one  captured  in  war,  for 
the  latter  would  never  settle  clown. 

A  slave  was  stocked  for  four  days  after  he  was  purchased 
and  had  to  name  his  country  and  his  parents  ;  bread  was 
sacrificed  and  he  was  sworn  on  it  not  to  run  away;  but  he 
was  not  trusted  for  a  year,  and  two  years  would  elapse  before 
he  went  to  reside  in  a  slave  village. 

There  was  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  a  slave 
could  buy  a  wife  for  himself  or  not  ;  some  said  that  he  could 
do  so  or  might  even  marry  a  free  woman,  paying  bride-price 


159 

for  her  ;  but  there  was  no  confirmation  of  this  ;  in  fact  in 
some  places  my  informants  declared  that  the  slave  could  not 
purchase  a  slave  wife,  but  should  receive  her  from  his  master; 
in  no  case  could  a  slave  marry  his  master's  daughter. 

It  was,  however,  recognised  in  some  places  that  a  slave 
could  purchase  for  himself  a  slave  who  would  take  his  place  ; 
in  that  case  the  original  slave  became  a  confidential  servant 
of  the  master  and  was  in  much  the  same  position  as  if  he 
were  redeemed  by  his  parents  and  remained,  as  sometimes 
happened,  a  member  of  his  master's  household.  It  often 
happened  that  a  confidential  servant  acted  as  guardian  to  his 
master's  young  children,  but  some  informants  were  of 
opinion  that  such  a  practice  was  contrary  to  usage. 

It  was  generally  held  that  a  slave  could  not  redeem 
himself,  even  though  he  had  attained  some  degree  of  riches 
and  did  not  work  ;  he  might,  however,  give  money  secretly 
to  his  parents  to  redeem  him. 

A  master  could  free  a  slave  by  sacrificing  a  sheep  and 
handing  the  freedman  over  to  his  relatives  or  retaining  him 
as  a  friend ;  the  slave  wife  of  a  freedman  would  not  alter  her 
status,  though  some  thought  that  all  the  children  would  be 
free.  Some  informants  were  of  opinion  that  a  freed  slave 
could  marry  his  master's  daughter,  even  though  he  was  born 
in  the  house ;  in  the  opinion  of  others  they  were  brother  and 
sister  and  could  not  marry.  It  was,  however,  clear  that  a 
freedman  could  marry  a  free  woman  ;  one  informant  thought 
a  freed  slave  would  have  to  redeem  his  own  children  before 
they  became  free;  the  freedman  himself  occupied  the  position 
of  a  son  and  was  joint  owner  with  his  former  master's 
children. 

From  this  it  is  but  a  step  to  adopting  an  heir ;  a  childless 
man  could  buy  a  slave  and  "  put  him  in  his  own  belly,"  so 
that  he  became  free  :  the  brothers  of  the  man  could  raise  no 
objection.  His  adopted  son  would,  however,  be  heir  to  his 
personal  property  only  and  not  to  anything  that  was  due  to 
him  from  a  brother's  estate. 

One  informant  said  that  to  adopt  a  slave  it  was  necessary 


160 

to  make  rice  bread  and  rub  it  on  him.  A  brother's  daughter 
is  the  proper  wife  for  an  adopted  son,  doubtless  to  smooth 
over  difficulties  with  regard  to  property. 

In  some  places,  however,  adoption  was  not  recognised,  and, 
in  default  of  relatives,  a  chief  or  head  man  became  guardian 
of  a  man's  children. 

It  was  generally  recognised  that  a  man  could  marry  a 
female  slave  or  buy  one  for  the  purpose  of  marriage.  All  the 
man's  relatives  assembled  and  he  sacrificed  a  sheep  and  rice  ; 
all  laid  their  hands  on  the  sacrifice  and  the  sacrificer 
announced  :  "  My  dead  parents,  I  sacrifice  a  sheep  because  I 
marry  this  slave  of  mine  ;  I  hope  I  may  get  children  ;  1  have 
set  her  free."  Thereupon  the  sheep's  throat  would  be  cut. 
A  freed  wife's  parents  were  not  set  free. 

In  another  case  the  sacrifice  was  offered  to  the  krifi  after 
the  birth  of  the  first  child,  and  the  food  was  dished  separately 
for  the  father's  father's  and  the  father's  mother's  families. 

The  sheep  was  sacrificed  in  addition  to  the  bread  used  for 
the  male  slave  because  of  the  children  that  were  expected. 

A  slave  got  a  farm  of  his  own  if  he  behaved  well ;  as  his 
master  was  responsible  for  feeding  him,  at  any  rate  for  as 
many  days  in  the  week  as  the  slave  worked  for  him,  his  rice 
was  his  own  and  he  could  utilise  most  of  it  for  his  own 
purposes,  though  a  tribute  of  rice  was  due  to  his  master. 

Although,  in  theory,  a  slave's  property  is  his  master's,  my 
informants  were  of  opinion  that  the  master  should  regard 
himself  as  trustee  for  the  slave's  children. 

A  slave  worked  for  himself  on  his  free  day  or  days, 
which  may  be  one,  two  or  even  three  in  some  localities  ;  some 
informants  said  a  slave  had  no  rest  day  unless  he  was  sick  ; 
but  this  probably  refers  only  to  the  first  years  of  his  servitude. 
It  was  generally  agreed  that  no  master  had  the  right  to  force 
a  slave  to  work  on  his  free  day  or  days  ;  hence  the  rule  that 
a  slave  had  a  free  hand  with  the  produce  of  his  farm  after 
paying  tribute  to  his  master. 

A  man  might  give  a  slave  to  his  wife,  and  her  children 
would    inherit  him ;  he   would   follow    the    wife    to    a   new 


Plate  XVIII. 


161 

husband,  provided  she  did  not  marry  out  of  the  family  ;  a 
daughter  might,  however,  inherit  such  a  slave  and  would  then 
be  at  liberty  to  take  him  to  her  husband's  house. 

Another  informant,  however,  thought  that  slaves  were 
shared  equally  among  the  children,  but  would  not  remain 
with  the  wives  after  the  husband's  death. 

A  runaway  slave  was  reclaimed  by  a  payment  either  to 
the  chief  or  to  the  man  in  whose  house  he  was ;  but  in  the 
former  case  a  time  limit  of  a  month  was  fixed. 

If  a  slave  murdered  a  free  man,  the  family  could  claim  two 
or  three  slaves,  who  would  be  regarded  as  sons  ;  or  might 
receive  a  money  payment,  together  with  a  cow  for  sacrifice  on 
the  grave,  aud  a  substitute  who  took  the  place  of  the  murdered 
man  ;  the  substitute  would  inherit  if  there  were  no  other 
sons ;  otherwise,  according  to  my  informants,  he  would  get 
nothing  unless  he  received  his  share  before  the  father's  death. 

A  slave  murderer  might,  however,  be  killed,  if  the  family  of 
the  dead  man  refused  to  accept  compensation.  In  this  case, 
neither  the  dead  man  nor  the  slave  was  buried. 

Susu. — The  condition  of  slaves  was  not  markedly  different. 
A  man  was  free  on  Thursday  and  Friday  and  fed  himself  on 
those  days  ;  he  was  responsible  for  his  wife's  food  and  she  fed 
his  children,  till  they  went  to  their  master,  at  the  age  of 
eleven  or  twelve,  if  the  woman  was  not  in  the  same  owner- 
ship. 

A  slave  could  be  freed  ;  and  a  man  was  at  liberty  to  marry 
a  girl  born  in  his  house,  though  a  house  slave  was  so  far  one 
of  the  family  that  a  thief  could  not  be  sold. 


M 


162 


XVIII— INHERITANCE. 

Personal  property  is,  over  a  great  part  of  the  Tiinne  country, 
very  limited  in  quantity  ;  enquiries  into  the  rule  of  succession 
by  means  of  genealogies  were  fruitless,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  informants  had  inherited  little  or  nothing  from  their 
fathers.  As  a  natural  result  they  were  frequently  unable  to 
formulate  any  clear  statement  for  lack  of  personal  experience. 

It  is  clear  that,  generally  speaking,  a  distinction  is  drawn 
between  personal  property  and  family,  or  inherited,  property. 
The  former  descends  to  a  son  or  an  adopted  son,  the  latter 
goes  to  a  brother  or  (elder)  brother's  children,  or  father's 
brother's  children  ;  but  it  is  a  general  rule  that  an  absentee 
loses  his  rights,  and  that  the  eldest  son  by  each  wife  is  alone 
entitled  to  succeed. 

As  regards  personal  property,  all  the  sons  seem  to  receive 
a  portion,  but  the  eldest  gets  the  largest  share,  and,  provided 
he  is  not  himself  in  tutelage  to  a  father's  brother  or  other 
guardian,  is  trustee  of  all  the  property ;  he  will  hand  over  a 
portion  to  his  brothers  when  they  marry,  and  also  purchase 
their  first  wives  for  them. 

The  age  at  which  a  man  is  held  to  be  capable  of  managing 
property  varies  within  wide  limits ;  a  capable  man  may  be 
regarded  as  sufficiently  responsible  at  twenty,  but  thirty  to 
thirty-five  is  considered  a  normal  age.  One  white-bearded 
man  of  sixty,  the  second  son  of  his  father,  informed  me  that 
he  was  working  for  his  brother,  who  had  charge  of  the  land 
and  kola  trees ;  he  hoped  to  receive  a  share  when  he  was  old 
enough.  He  was  himself  the  father  of  three  sons,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  married  and  had  two  children.  At 
the  present  day  the  eldest  son  is  accustomed  to  claim  to 
control  the  property,  and  apply,  not  always  with  success,  to 
the  District  Commissioner  to  support  him.     It  is  quite  clear 


163 

that  there  are  no  hard  and  fast  rules  of  inheritance,  and  this 
fact  should  be  recognised  in  administering  the  property  of 
natives. 

A  considerable  amount  of  property  may  be  held  jointly, 
and  probably  the  practice  prevails  more  especially  in  the 
south,  where  trading  is  lucrative  ;  in  the  Sanda  country  joint 
property  hardly  includes  more  than  land  and  trees. 

A  member  of  one  family  informed  me  that  four  of  his 
father's  forty  sons  had  been  entrusted  with  family  capital  to 
the  extent  of  £400,  and  in  seven  years,  apart  from  drawings, 
over  £2,500  had  been  made.  This  was  apparently  a  family 
fund  which  could  be  drawn  on  in  case  of  need. 

Certain  members  of  more  than  one  family  were  specifically 
declared  to  be  wastrels,  and  to  have  been  excluded,  either  by 
the  father  or  by  the  family,  from  any  participation  in  these 
advantages.  In  one  family  a  long  list  of  sons  was  given  who 
had  remained  unmarried,  because  they  were  too  lazy  to  work. 
If  the  eldest  son  is  unsatisfactory,  younger  sons  may  get  a 
bigger  share.  In  one  place  it  was  held  that  slaves  might 
attach  themselves  to  the  children  of  a  wife  who  had  been  of 
great  assistance  to  her  husband,  even  if  their  children  were 
not  entitled  to  succeed  by  ordinary  rule. 

A  Yonibana  informant  gave  me  the  following  account  of 
customs  of  inheritance  in  a  family  of  brothers. 

"  A  brother  is  guardian  of  his  brother's  children  and 
receives  one-fourth  of  the  property  himself,  not  as  guardian, 
but  because  he  helped  {i.e.,  worked  for)  his  brother  ;  this 
would,  however,  only  apply  in  the  case  of  a  younger 
brother. 

"  If  three  brothers  live  together,  and  the  two  elder  die 
before  the  third,  the  children  of  the  survivor  will  take  his 
property  when  he  dies,  plus  one-fourth  of  the  property  of  the 
two  elder  brothers.  The  whole  of  the  property  is,  however,  in 
charge  of  the  oldest  son,  irrespective  of  whether  his  father 
was  senior  or  junior  to  the  other  two." 

The  precedence  among  heirs  is  as  follows :  The  sons  come 
first,  then  the  father's  brothers  of  the  whole  blood,  then  those 

m  2 


164 

by  another  mother.  Daughters  appear  to  rank  next  after 
them,  and  then  the  sons  of  the  father's  brothers.  But  there 
is  some  doubt  as  to  the  exact  order,  as  no  specific  case  occurs 
in  the  genealogies.  It  is  not  unnatural  that  where  there  is 
much  property  there  are  also  abundance  of  heirs,  as  property 
implies  a  sufficiency  of  wives. 

Where  no  man  of  the  same  family  can  be  found,  the  clan, 
or  the  chief  (or  head  man),  take  the  property. 

Where  a  daughter  succeeds,  her  male  children  or  those  of 
her  sisters  are  the  eventual  heirs.  As  a  rule,  a  daughter 
gets  cooking  pots  only ;  but,  in  the  case  of  a  large  estate, 
money,  cows,  etc.,  may  fall  to  her  share.  A  married  daughter 
who  succeeds  in  the  absence  of  male  heirs  may  bring  her 
husband  to  her  father's  house. 

As  a  rule  a  daughter  who  leaves  the  town  relinquishes  her 
share  ;  but  they  sometimes  lease  farm  land  to  others  for  a 
nominal  sum  ;  if  more  were  paid,  it  might  be  regarded  as  a 
sale  of  the  land,  though  native  law  does  not  recognise  it  as 
valid. 

Occasionally,  succession  to  property  through  the  mother 
appears  in  the  genealogies,  in  one  case  as  a  claim  to  the  land 
of  the  mother's  brothers,  in  another  of  the  mother's  father's 
father's  land,  but  in  both  cases  no  nearer  heirs  were  known. 

In  one  case  I  found  a  dead  man's  house  held  in  trust  by 
the  widow's  father's  brother ;  it  was  to  be  given  to  her  second 
husband.  The  first  husband  was,  however,  a  stranger,  and 
the  case  does  not  indicate  any  law  of  matrilineal  succession. 
In  a  second  case  the  conditions  were  similar,  but  the  wife 
was  said  to  own  the  land,  and  the  husband,  who  was  still 
alive  but  an  absentee,  was  regarded  as  the  owner  of  the 
house. 

It  may  be  noted  that  even  if  the  heir  finds  no  property 
coming  to  him,  he  is  responsible  both  for  the  debts  and  the 
obligations  of  the  deceased  ;  he  must,  for  example,  purchase 
wives  for  his  sons. 

Perishable  property  is  shared  among  the  father's  brothers 
of   the    dead  man ;    some  of    the    rice  is  consumed  by  the 


165 

guardian  and  the  children,  some  sown,  and  the  produce 
handed  over  to  the  children  at  full  age. 

In  the  case  of  live  stock,  some  of  the  increase  should  go  to 
the  guardian  in  recognition  of  his  care  of  the  estate. 

If  the  dead  man  was  paying  bride-price,  the  bride  would 
fall  to  the  father's  own  brother. 

In  the  case  of  twins,  each  takes  half  the  share  that  would 
have  fallen  to  an  individual  heir. 

Adoption  was  recognised  in  certain  areas  only. 

Susu. — Inheritance. — I  recorded  no  genealogies  and  did 
not  test  the  statements  of  my  informants,  but  they  agreed 
that  the  eldest  brother  by  the  same  father  takes  a  man's 
property;  then  in  succession  his  children,  the  man's  own 
sons,  the  males  of  his  father's  or  mother's  families,  and  finally 
his  own  daughters  ;  but  one  informant  put  the  daughters 
next  the  sons  and  made  them  share  with  the  paramount 
chief,  who  took  the  house,  amongst  other  things,  and  handed 
it  over  to  a  stranger  without  payment. 

A  son  succeeded  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  ;  and  the  para- 
mount chief,  acting  as  guardian,  would  get  him  a  wife  before 
then,  who  would  pass  to  a  family  "  near  "  him  if  he  died. 

Loko. — Inheritance. — No  genealogies  were    recorded,   but 

1  DO 

informants  stated  that  the  eldest  son  succeeded  to  his  father's 
property. 

LAND    AND    TREES. 

Generally  speaking,  land  is  private  property,  if  we  except 
that  which  is  attached  to  a  chiefship  or  in  some  other  way 
held  as  a  trust ;  it  descends  in  the  male  line,  the  eldest  son 
as  a  rule  parcelling  it  out  to  his  brothers,  who  become  owners  ; 
in  some  places  the  father  is  said  to  make  farms  for  each  of 
his  wives,  to  which  their  children  eventually  succeed. 

Land  may  be  loaned,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  like 
other  property,  and  either  a  small  money  payment  made  or 
a  tribute  of  from  half  to  one  bushel  of  rice  for  a  farm  of 
ordinary  size.     But  if  the  chief  applies  for  land  he  pays  no 


166 

rent,  though  he,  perhaps,  gives  some  rice  as  an  act  of  grace; 
the  matter  is  arranged  through  a  sub-chief. 

Land  thus  loaned  may  pass  finally  into  the  hands  of  the 
borrowers  it"  they  behave  well  and  the  owner  does  not  need 
the  land. 

Where  land  is  borrowed  from  a  relative,  who  may  be  on 
the  father's  or  the  mother's  side,  property  in  it  may  pass  in 
comparatively  few  years. 

Pawning  of  land  is  recognised  in  s<  >me  places ;  a  term  may 
be  fixed,  perhaps  till  the  rice  is  cut,  and  £2  or  more  would 
be  payable  to  the  lender,  who  would  retain  the  bush  till  the 
payment  of  principal  and  interest  was  made,  and,  in  case  of 
default,  if  he  wished,  make  another  farm  four  or  five  years 
later.  A  made  farm  cannot  be  pawned,  though  rice  may  be 
sold  before  it  is  cut ;  in  this  case  the  owner  of  the  farm,  not 
the  purchaser,  reaps  the  crop. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Freetown  the  rent  for  an  ordinary 
farm  was  stated  to  be  one  bushel  of  rice,  some  palm  oil,  a 
fowl,  and  four  shillings,  to  be  paid  yearly.  Here,  too,  land 
can  be  sold,  and  £4  would  purchase  a  farm  of  ordinary  size. 
The  same  area  would  be  pawned  for  £2  or  less. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  evidence  that  clearing  of 
virgin  forest  was  held  to  confer  ownership ;  but  as  there  is 
no  old  forest  left  in  the  Timne  area,  the  point  is  of  no 
practical  importance. 

Big  trees  serve  as  boundaries  of  large  plots  ;  on  the  farms 
sticks  and  rubbish  are  utilised  to  mark  off  each  man's 
property. 

Round  the  towns  are  usually  tracts  of  uncut  bush,  which 
belongs  to  the  head  man ;  it  may  be  taken  for  house  land, 
but  is  preserved  as  far  as  possible  as  a  safeguard  against  bush 
fires  spreading  to  the  houses. 

A  woman  who  leaves  her  husband  can  claim  to  farm  her 
father's  bush,  if  he  has  no  sons. 

A  stranger  obtains  land,  usually  after  a  twelvemonth,  from 
the  paramount  chief,  or,  at  the  chief's  direction,  from  his 
host.     He,  and  in  some  places  his  children,  may  be  expelled 


167 

if  there  is  any  trouble  ;  but  the  grandchildren  have  acquired 
the  rights  of  natives — obviously  because,  as  a  rule,  they  are 
the  children  of  women  of  the  district  and  cannot  be  expelled. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  recognised  that  a  wastrel  or  trouble- 
some person  can  be  pawned  to  teach  him  manners  :  this  can 
be  done  only  with  his  own  consent,  but  as  he  can  be  fettered 
until  he  gives  his  consent,  there  is  not  much  choice  allowed 
him  in  the  matter. 

The  heir  of  landed  property  is  the  same  as  the  heir  to 
other  property  ;  the  eldest  son  holds  land  in  trust ;  if  there 
are  no  sons,  the  elder  brother  of  the  deceased  holds  it  for  the 
daughters  ;  if  there  are  no  brothers,  the  daughters  can  hold  it 
in  their  own  right. 

The  chief  holds  (a)  farm  and  house  land  as  chief ;  (b)  farm 
(and  house)  land  as  individual ;  (c)  uncultivated  bush,  such  as 
the  "town  bush"  and  bush  held  sacred  to  the  krifi,  and  has 
(d)  dominium  over  the  whole  chiefdom,  though  he  cannot 
dispossess  any  individual  owner  at  will. 

House  land  is  owned  individually  like  farm  land  ;  in  some 
places  a  son  rebuilds  his  mother's  house  in  his  father's  com- 
pound when  the  latter  dies  :  when  he  marries  he  builds  a 
house  for  himself,  but  returns  to  his  mother's  house  at  her 
death.  This  course  is  followed  only  in  the  case  of  a  woman 
already  old,  who  would  not  go  to  another  husband. 

The  father's  house  is  naturally  occupied  by  the  eldest  son. 

In  general,  trees  belong  to  the  owner  of  the  land,  unless 
they  are  planted  on  strange  land  by  permission.  Palm  trees, 
however,  are  common  property ;  but  no  one  can  go  on  a  farm 
before  the  rice  is  cut,  except  the  owner.  A  close  time  is 
frequently  fixed  by  the  chief,  both  for  palm  nuts  and  kola. 
Palm  wine  can  also  be  procured  from  any  tree  after  the 
harvest.  This  freedom,  however,  is  restricted,  both  in 
respect  of  nuts  and  palm  wine,  to  residents  ;  casual  strangers 
must  ask  permission  and  give  a  share  to  the  owner  of  the 
land. 

In  Mabum,  where  the  Mohammedan  element  is  very 
strong,  and  a  portion  of  the  town  are  immigrants,  all  palm 


168 

trees  belong  to  the  owner  of  the  bush,  and  no  nuts  can  be 
cut  without  permission  ;  but  any  owner  retains  property  in 
the  trees  on  land  he  loans  to  others. 

Permission  is  asked  in  some  places  under  Freetown  influ- 
ence ;  but  at  Magbile  anyone  may  cut  subject  to  a  payment 
of  five  heads  to  the  chief ;  the  oil  is  extracted  by  the  sub- 
chief  or  head  man,  who  keeps  the  kernels. 

The  only  other  tree  of  importance  is  the  kola,  the  nuts  of 
which  were  worth  in  normal  times  3s.  6d.  per  hundred. 
Property  in  kola  trees  may  pass  to  a  daughter,  and  she  sends 
for  the  nuts  when  she  wants  money  ;  her  sons  succeed  to  the 
trees  and  come  and  clear  the  ground  round  them. 

Kola  may  be  planted  in  the  common  bush  or  on  private 
land ;  a  seedling  in  "  big  bush  "  may  be  claimed  by  clearing 
the  ground ;  as  a  rule  a  witness  is  required  when  trees  are 
planted  along  the  road  in  the  common  bush,  or  at  the  water- 
side. 

Other  fruit  trees  in  which  individual  property  is  recog- 
nised are  lime,  orange,  banana  and  mango.  Akent  (Baphia 
vinifera)  is  valuable  as  the  source  of  piassava. 

There  seems  to  be  a  custom  of  sending  oranges  to  the 
married  daughter  of  a  family ;  but,  as  a  rule,  marriage  means 
that  a  woman  resigns  her  share  in  the  family  trees. 

Koranko. — Land. — Customs  with  regard  to  land  seem  to 
be  entirely  different  in  this  tribe,  for  private  ownership  of 
farm  land  is  unknown — at  any  rate  at  Mabqnto,  where  my 
enquiries  were  made — and  anyone  may  take  an  old  farm  and 
plant  ground-nuts,  though  the  former  owner,  who  has  had  a 
rice-farm  for  one  year,  can  claim  to  say  how  much  he  will 
reserve  for  his  own  use.  House-land  is  apparently  private 
property,  though  anyone  may  take  the  site  of  a  broken-down 
house.  A  stranger  who  built  on  it  would,  however,  be  under 
the  son  of  the  former  owner,  if  the  son  chose  to  build  near. 

Trees. — Palm-trees  are  common  property,  save  those  near 
a  House  ;  orange-trees  are  also  free  to  all,  though  apparently 
the  owner  of  a  house  can  pick  fruit  from  a  tree  close  at  hand 
before  the  tabu  is  raised.     Bananas  are  privately  owned,  but 


169 

can  be  declared  common  property  in  certain  areas — e.g.,  on 
the  site  of  an  old  town. 

Limba. — Land  is  mostly  in  private  hands,  save  for  certain 
sacred  places,  chiefly  bush  and  barren  spots  that  cannot  be 
cultivated.  On  one  side  of  Kabinkolo  is  sacred  bush.,  which 
may  not  be  entered  by  women  and  uncircumcised  boys ;  on 
the  other  side  the  bush  belongs  to  the  town.  Land  appears 
to  be  scarce,  as  some  people  have  enough  bush  only  for  two 
farms,  and  plant  rice  and  fundi  in  alternate  years. 

At  Bumban  a  man  takes  the  farm  and  house  that  belonged 
to  his  mother,  and  younger  sons  get  land  from  the  eldest. 
Daughters  cannot  transmit  land  to  their  sons. 

Trees  are  the  property  of  the  landowner,  and  palm-trees 
are  no  exception ;  they  appear  to  be  scarce.  The  chief 
claims  a  tribute  of  oil  and  kernels. 

Other  trees  must  be  planted  in  the  town  or  behind  the 
house  ;  kola  and  mango  alone  can  be  planted  on  the  side  of 
the  road,  and  kola  is  also  found  in  the  town  bush  and  near 
the  water- side. 

de£t. 

Refractory  debtors  are  dealt  with  by  means  of  "  medicine  " 
(see  p.  81),  by  the  Pqro  or  Maneke  (Konto)  societies,  by 
summons  before  the  chief  or  by  private  justice,  i.e.,  selling 
the  debtor  as  a  slave. 

A  case  was  cited  to  me  by  a  man  who  appealed  to  Konto 
to  relieve  him  of  his  debts ;  when  the  Maneke  society  came 
out,  they  appear  to  have  gone  to  the  debtor's  house  ;  he 
climbed  the  centre  pole  of  the  house  and  escaped,  because 
the  members  of  the  Maneke  society  were  carrying  sticks. 
After  jumping  down  from  the  house,  he  swam  a  river  and 
was  finally  declared  free  of  debt ;  but  my  informant  could 
not  explain  the  process. 

Another  method  is  for  the  chief  to  loan  the  necessary 
funds  to  the  debtor,  relying  upon  his  power  of  seizing  the 
debtor  or  his  heirs  if  the  money  is  not  repaid.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  debts  are  inherited  like  assets,  and  that  the 


170 

absence  of  property  does  not  relieve  a  man's  heirs  from 
responsibility  for  his  debts. 

The  creditor  might  seize  a  debtor  and  sell  him,  or  a  debtor 
might  sell  himself  in  satisfaction  of  a  debt,  or  pawn  one  or 
more  of  his  children,  or  pawn  other  property  ;  or,  in  substitu- 
tion for  a  cow  that  he  owned,  take  a  bull,  handing  over  the 
cow  to  a  third  person,  the  owner  of  the  bull,  which  he  sold 
to  liquidate  the  debt ;  this  done,  he  endeavoured  to  procure 
another  bull,  in  order  to  recover  his  cow  ;  the  object  of  this 
procedure  was  to  avoid  selling  the  cow,  which  was  more 
valuable  than  a  bull. 

AVhen  a  stranger  incurs  a  debt,  the  man  who  grants  him 
land  is  his  surety,  and,  if  necessary,  the  chief  pays  the  debt 
from  the  funds  of  the  grantor. 

One  informant  thought  that  a  debt  could  not  be  handed 
over  in  satisfaction  of  another  debt ;  but  this  opinion  was 
not  confirmed. 

A  man  might  pawn  himself  or  his  children,  but  not  his 
wife ;  the  recognised  sum  was  £2  to  £4,  but  one  informant 
placed  the  figure  much  higher. 

If  the  pawn  died,  the  debt  was  not  extinguished.  If  an 
important  man  pawned  his  son,  leopard's  teeth  might  be  tied 
to  his  wrist,  or  a  key  in  the  case  of  ordinary  people ;  the 
wearing  of  this  was  not  explained. 

A  pawn  was  called  s  eke  me  kQiikoniuya.  The  term  for 
the  loan  might  be  only  one  year.  A  wife  would  return  to 
her  parents  if  her  husband  pawned  himself,  and  they  might 
redeem  the  husband. 

A  pawn  was  sent  back  to  his  father  if  he  were  lazy  or  sick, 
and  the  debt,  of  course,  remained;  he  might  visit  his  father 
for  some  time  by  permission  ;  if  he  worked  well  he  might 
receive  a  wife  from  his  master. 

A  girl  might  also  be  pawned,  but  would  usually  be  redeemed 
at  the  age  for  marriage ;  the  master  would  not  allow  her  to 
marry  a  free  man  otherwise,  though  he  might  take  her  to 
wife  himself. 

A  child  might  be  pawned  at  the  age  of  seven. 


171 

If  necessary,  a  man's  brother  would  redeem  a  pawned 
child  without  expecting  repayment,  for  "  if  you  get,  it's  his ; 
if  you  get  trouble,  it's  his.'' 

Animals  were  rarely  pawned  apparently.  Cows  formed 
an  exception ;  the  broker  called  on  the  owner  to  redeem  it 
before  calving,  or  extra  payment  was  necessary. 

If  a  cow  died,  the  body  had  to  be  carried  to  the  owner, 
who  was  notified  if  it  were  stolen  or  taken  by  a  leopard. 

Inanimate  objects  might  also  be  pawned,  and  were  at  the 
disposal  of  the  pawnee  ;  a  term  would  be  arranged  for 
repayment,  and  the  article  forfeited  if  the  arrangement  were 
not  carried  out.  Damage  to  the  pawned  article  had  to  be 
made  good. 

Loans  were  made  for  no  fixed  term,  and  in  the  absence  of 
a  definite  agreement  no  interest  was  payable ;  a  small  pay- 
ment (rowanokum),  however,  might  be  given  in  acknow- 
ledgment. 

Security  was  not  necessary,  but  the  money  was  handed 
over  in  the  presence  of  a  witness,  who  might  be  the  lender's 
wife.  A  surety  (kabun)  might,  however,  be  called  in,  and 
he  received  the  money  from  the  lender.  The  word  kabun 
means  "  beam  of  a  house." 

Where  interest  was  payable,  it  might  be  25  or  50  per 
cent,  per  annum,  or  be  payable  only  if  the  term  passed 
without  repayment. 

Susu. — Fawning. — A  man  could  pawn  himself  and 
extinguish  the  debt  of  £6*  in  four  years,  or  he  could  pawn  his 
son  and  repay  the  debt  before  he  was  free. 


172 


XIX.—  FARMING  AND  CROPS. 

The  most  important  crop  is  rice,  of  which  many  varieties 
are  known ;  guinea-corn,  millet,  sesame,  maize,  cassava,  and 
ground-nuts  (planted  by  women)  are  also  major  articles  of 
cultivation.  Among  women's  vegetables  may  be  mentioned 
tomatoes  (matamba),  beans  (elil),  sweet  potatoes  (okro), 
' '  garden  eggs  "  (m  a  1  u  1  a,  j  a  k  a  t  o,  m  a  k  o  b  q  k  q  b  o,  m  a  k  u  n  t, 
etc.),  leaves  for  soup  (kabete,  akimban),  and  others. 
AYnmen  also  make  swamp  (potopoto)  farms,  which  entail 
less  work.  The  return  may  be  fivefold,  and  two  crops  can  be 
raised  from  the  same  patch. 

Peni,  a  Digitaria  species,  is  often  sown  in  an  old  rice- 
farm.  It  is  sown  broadcast,  and  cut  in  August ;  they  garner 
it  like  rice,  and  dry  it  on  a  "fence  "  or  "tree."  When  it  is 
dry,  the  grains  are  trodden  out.  There  are  no  rites  con- 
nected with  the  cultivation. 

For  a  large  rice-farm  thirty  men  and  boys  may  do  two 
days'  work  in  clearing  the  bush,  and  three  or  four  men,  a 
month  later,  put  the  dried  brushwood  together  for  burning 
in  five  or  six  days.  When  the  rice  is  to  be  sowed,  thirty 
men  may  be  needed  for  hoeing  and  the  same  number  of 
women  for  breaking  the  sods,  each  for  one  or  two  days. 
Two  or  three  boys  watch  for  a  week  till  the  seed  germinates. 
A  month  later  weeding  will  occupy  seven  women  for  four 
days,  the  weeds  being  usually  placed  in  the  forks  of  the 
stumps  of  saplings  left  in  the  ground. 

The  same  stumps  are  used  for  drying  the  rice  when  it  is 
reaped.  It  is  cut  off  short  below  the  ear  and  tied  in  small 
sheaves,  which  are  afterwards  (a)  hung  on  a  "  tree"  (a  bant  a), 
i.e.,  a  horizontal  pole;  (b)  stacked  beneath  the  guard- hut, 
in  which  the  boys  sit,  while  the  rice  is  ripening,  to  scare  the 


to 

birds  with  stones  and  mud-balls  slung  far  and  wide ;  and 
(c)  piled  in  small  stacks  (kamom),  head  outwards.  If  the 
rains  are  very  heavy,  a  house  (ankor)  may  be  built. 

Before  it  is  threshed  it  may  be  put  for  four  days  in  the 
abanki  (a  round  bin  of  sticks  driven  into  the  ground),  and 
made  tight  with  leaves,  such  as  is  also  used  for  palm-nuts  to 
mellow  ;  then  it  is  threshed  on  the  robete,  or  kadir,  mats 
beneath  it,  and  fanned  to  clean  it  of  dust.  The  beating- 
stick  is  called  korump,  the  fan  kot^me. 

Some  people  tread  out  the  rice. 

In  some  areas  it  is  the  practice  to  leave  the  rice  in  the 
fields ;  in  others  it  is  brought  to  a  granary,  raised  on  posts,  in 
the  town.  In  the  latter  case,  if,  as  often  happens,  fire  breaks 
out  in  the  dry  season,  all  the  rice  may  be  destroyed,  especi- 
ally if  the  village  is  small. 

The  amount  of  seed  needed  for  a  large  farm  is  about  four 
bushels,  which  in  a  good  year  should  return  forty,  in  a  bad 
year  twenty-five-fold,  in  productive  areas. 

In  the  north,  where  the  land  is  not  so  good,  and  grass- 
land— less  productive  than  bush — is  sometimes  put  under 
cultivation,  the  ratio  of  produce  to  seed  is  far  smaller,  and 
the  result  is  considerable  scarcity  of  seed. 

At  Kuntaia  one  man  stated  that  he  had  got  sixteen 
shillings'  worth  of  rice,  and  was  keeping  half  for  seed  ;  a 
good  year  would  have  produced  25  per  cent.  more.  To  clear 
the  farm,  work  was  done  by  himself,  his  wife,  two  small 
boys,  and  twenty-two  helpers. 

Another  man  got  £2  10s.  worth,  and  was  keeping  half 
for  seed;  a  third  got  sixteen  shillings'  worth,  and  did  not 
know  how  much  seed  he  would  have. 

A  fourth  man  stated  that  he  was  living  on  bush  yams,  as 
he  had  got  nothing  from  his  farms ;  in  former  years  he  had 
got  £8  or  £9  worth.  From  £2  worth  of  seed  he  had  got  £4 
worth  of  rice,  but  from  that  he  fed  three  brothers  and  three 
women  ;  for  a  boy  does  not  begin  to  make  his  own  farm  till  he 
is  twenty  or  has  got  a  wife  ;  some  even  wait  till  a  child  is  born. 

His  guinea-corn,  which  should  return  nearly  twenty-fold, 


J  74 

was  bad,  and  he  had  got  nothing  from  four  shillings'  worth 
of  seed.  He  had  made  his  farm  in  the  grass  field,  and 
planted  no  maize,  as  it  does  not  grow  well  there  ;  his  cassava 
was  eaten  by  bush  pig. 

His  millet  (tqbqio)  had  not  flourished.  Only  his  peni 
was  fair :  he  had  got  sixfold  return  from  four  shillings' 
worth  of  seed. 

Enquiry  showed  that  a  good  deal  of  this  man's  troubles 
arose  from  lack  of  initiative.  Except  the  chief,  no  one  in 
the  district  thought  it  worth  while  to  fence  his  farm  as  a 
protection  against  wild  animals,  and  this  particular  indi- 
vidual alleged  that  it  was  impossible  for  one  man  to  fence 
a  farm.  The  idea  of  co-operation  in  such  work  had  not 
occurred  to  him  or  others. 

The  workers  on  a  man's  farm  are  himself  and  his  wives 
and  children  ;  his  unmarried,  and  in  some  cases  also  his 
married,  brothers  ;  his  sons-in-law  ;  and  helpers,  who  receive 
their  food  and  a  trifling  wage. 

Some  of  the  rites  connected  with  farming  have  been 
noticed  under  the  heading  satka ;  a  brief  survey  of  them  in 
order  is  given.  When  the  first  rains  fall,  the  farmer  makes 
rice-bread  and  offers  it  with  prayers  for  abundance  of  rice  ; 
then  bread  and  water  are  sprinkled  over  the  matchets, 
which  are  collected  in  the  compound  ;  some  bread  is  put  on 
the  top  of  a  stump,  and  no  work  is  done  on  that  day. 

In  some  places  a  stone  is  put  clown  in  the  centre  of  the 
farm  with  four  kola  under  it  and  a  fowl  or  bread  offered. 
Then  the  saplings  are  cut. 

There  do  not  appear  to  lie  any  rites  connected  with  firing 
the  farm;  but  before  hoeing  they  sacrifice  rice,  which  is 
eaten  by  all  workers  and  passers-by. 

After  hoeing,  a  fan  may  be  offered  on  the  stone  and  then 
hung  in  the  farm  to  blow  away  evil  influences.  Rice  is  then 
sowrn  broadcast. 

No  further  ceremonies  are  needed  till  harvest  approaches, 
if  we  except  the  bqmpa  rites  (see  p.  67)  against  witches, 
etc.,  which  also  precede  the  hoeing. 


175 

When  the  rice  is  ripe,  a  fowl  may  be  sacrificed  and  some 
rice  eaten,  a  handful  of  which  is  put  on  a  stone  in  the  road 
to  the  farm  for  krifi  that  want  to  spoil  the  rice,  and  for  the 
anfom  af i  (dead  people),  who  come  out  again,  or  rice  may  be 
offered  on  the  graves :  "  from  the  bush  which  you  left,  and 
we  farm  now,  we  want  to  take  rice."  Some  of  the  new  rice 
may  also  be  beaten  and  carried  into  the  town,  to  be  put  at 
the  head  of  the  owner's  sleeping-place  for  two  nights  and 
then  shared  among  the  household. 

On  the  first  day  that  rice  is  cut,  a  young  daughter  of  the 
farmer  may  cut  rice  and  beat  it,  and  the  owner  goes  alone  to 
the  stone  and  sacrifices  some  of  it. 

Elsewhere  leaves  are  cut  in  the  bush  and  scmeezed  into 
water  till  scum  collects ;  the  rice  is  put  in  the  water ;  a  fowl 
is  brought  and  allowed  to  pick  up  the  rice,  as  a  rite  of 
divination,  to  see  if  the  ancestors  are  glad  at  the  cutting  of 
the  rice.  The  fowl  is  killed  after  the  harvest  and  all  the 
people  eat. 

Before  collecting  the  rice,  a  satka  or  bempa  may  be 
made  for  the  krifi  and  witches,  by  putting  a  calabash  of 
water,  an  ant-heap,  burnt  rice  husks,  and  rice-bread  at  the 
entrance  to  the  farm. 

An  axe  used  for  felling  big  trees  may  be  put  down  on  the 
threshing-floor,  and  bread  offered  before  threshing. 

Before  taking  the  rice  to  the  granary,  they  may  sacrifice 
with  water  and  a  stone  in  a  pot,  which  is  put  on  the  top  of 
the  rice  and  transferred  to  the  granary  with  it. 

AVlien  the  farm-work  is  finished  and  the  rice  brought  in, 
each  man,  in  some  places,  brings  a  little  rice  and  cooks  it 
in  public,  because  children  and  old  people  should  eat  and  ask 
a  blessing  on  the  rice.  Any  rice  left  over  should  be  given  to 
the  oldest  person.  Just  as  the  prayer  of  a  chief  was  regarded 
as  specially  powerful,  so  the  intercession  of  old  people  is  held 
to  be  more  beneficial. 

Palm  wine  is  made  in  some  places  by  half  severing  the 
trunk  ;  this  involves  the  destruction  of  the  tree. 

Elsewhere  a  hole  is  bored  just  below  the  branches,  and,  in 


176 

a  young  tree,  palm  wine  is  obtainable  in  three  days  ;  the 
yield  goes  on  for  twenty  days. 

Palm-oil  is  made  as  follows :  A  small  round  "  basket "  is 
made  of  sticks  driven  into  the  ground  and  lined  with  leaves ; 
this  is  filled  with  partially  dried  palm  nuts  and  covered  with 
leaves ;  heavy  stones  are  put  on  the  top,  and  it  is  left  for  five 
days.  Then  the  nuts  are  brazed  in  mortars,  and  the  husks 
loosened  and  afterwards  boiled;  to  the  oil  obtained  in  this 
way  is  added  the  oil  got  from  the  boiling  water  poured  over 
the  nuts.  The  nuts  are  cracked  and  the  kernels  boiled  to 
extract  nut-oil. 


Plate  XIX. 


m 


Plate  XX. 


,. 


T*"^ 


177 


XX.— TECHNOLOGY  AND  SCIENCE 

Pottery. — Pottery  is  seldom  made  in  the  Timne  country 
at  the  present  day,  and  the  woman  who  undertook  to  give  a 
demonstration  had  not  potted  for  over  twenty  years  according 
to  her  own  account. 

The  clay  (yofta)  mixed  with  water  was  pounded  on  a  flat 
board  (nab en)  and  picked  over  for  stones;  rolls  of  clay 
(bo Ian)  were  made  with  the  right  hand  only,  and  then  a 
base  (akoto  kambQl),  the  top  of  which  was  formed  with  the 
hand  (Plate  XIX) ;  rolls  were  applied  one  by  one  to  the  base 
and  finally  the  pot  was  taken  off  the  boards  and  put  on  some 
leaves. 

The  outside  was  smoothed  with  a  knife  and  the  inside 
pressed  and  thinned  with  a  piece  of  calabash.  Finally  the 
top  was  cut  with  a  piece  of  midrib  of  palm  and  made  smooth 
and  a  rim  formed  with  a  wet  cloth  and  piece  of  calabash 
(Plate  XX).  After  drying  in  the  sun  for  three  days,  it  was 
put  over  a  few  burning  leaves  to  hasten  the  drying  and 
finally  the  base,  which  was  a  solid  block,  was  cut  off,  and 
the  pot  was  ready  for  burning. 

In  the  Mqndi  country  pot-making  is  a  regular  business 
in  some  places.     The  prices  were  given  as  follows : — 

(1)  Pot  cover  (ke, bo)       ...     1-2  leaves  of  tobacco. 

(2)  Small  pot  (few u)      ....    3d. 

(3)  „       „    (keve)       ...     3d. 
with  large  lip. 

(4)  Oil  pot  (dumb u)      ...     3d.  to  2s. 

(5)  Water  pot  (dumali)...       „     „    „ 

The  work  was  begun  by  making  a  cone  (poga  ti)  six 
inches  high,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre,  which  was  enlarged 
bit  by  bit ;  then  the  outside,  which  was  left  rough  at  first, 

x 


178 

was  scraped  till  no  trace  remained  of  the  rolls  of  which  it  had 
been  built  up. 

The  cone  was  put  upon  a  board,  on  which  water  was 
freely  sprinkled  to  ensure  free  rotation  of  the  pot  in  working  ; 
and  the  rolls  were  applied  in  succession  to  the  hollowed 
cone,  which  now  took  the  form  of  the  lower  part  of  a  pot. 
The  outside  was  scraped  from  the  bottom  upwards  and  the 
inside  worked  with  the  fingers  and  a  piece  of  calabash  to  thin 
the  wall  of  the  pot ;  then  a  wet  rag  was  taken  to  enlarge  the 
top  of  the  neck  and  make  a  lip. 

A  large  pot  was  made  with  the  base  on  a  piece  of  calabash 
which  rested  on  a  lump  of  wet  clay ;  this  ensured  stability 
and  mobility. 

The  clay  for  all  pots  was  dry  and  powdery  before  water 
was  added ;  it  was  then  trodden  and  pounded  to  ensure 
uniformity  of  consistence. 

After  drying  for  some  days  the  pots  were  heated  over  a 
small  fire  and  the  drying  hearth  prepared  of  two  layers  of 
wood,  crossways..  On  this  pots  were  piled,  and  round  them 
wood  standing  on  end. 

Burning  continued  for  about  half  an  hour  and  then  the 
pots  were  withdrawn  with  a  long  pole  and  turned  black  with 
a  decoction  of  jeko  tree. 

Fishing. — The  streams  and  rivers  of  Sierra  Leone  are 
extraordinarily  rich  in  fish,  and  when  the  waters  are  low 
women  catch  large  quantities  of  small  fish  in  nets  that  they 
push  along  the  bottom. 

Anyone  may  fish  in  a  river,  but  at  times,  when  a  woman 
marries,  her  people  send  fish  to  the  river  of  the  town  she 
goes  to,  that  she  may  claim  to  take  her  catch  by  night. 

Apart  from  this  there  are  methods  which  demand  concerted 
action  on  the  part  of  the  community  ;  a  portion  of  the  river 
may  be  dammed  when  the  water  is  low  and  fish  poison  used 
to  stupefy  all  that  are  enclosed  within  the  walls. 

Nets  are  used  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  yards  long ; 
smaller  ones,  with  stones  as  sinkers,  are  forty  yards  long.  To 
work  these  the  people  of  four  towns  come  together  and  the 


179 

nets  are  stretched  from  bank  to  bank  and  then  down  the 
river.     A  hundred  fish  may  be  caught  at  each  draught. 

In  the  smaller  stream  fish  traps  and  fences  are  prepared  in 
the  dry  season  ;  such  traps  are  individual  property,  and  a 
trap  put  down  gives  the  owner  a  claim  to  the  spot  another 
year,  even  if  the  land  is  not  his  own. 

ASTRONOMY,  etc. — Names  are  used  for  the  morning  star 
(Lolo)  and  evening  star  (B'ankabala),  and  the  latter  is 
said  to  be  the  wife  of  the  moon. 

The  only  constellation  they  recognise  is  Masare,  which 
seems  to  be  the  Pleiades  or  (and)  Orion,  but  no  one  could 
point  out  Masare,  and  such  different  accounts  are  given  of 
the  time  when  it  is  visible  that  the  identification  is 
doubtful. 

They  say  that  Masare  stands  like  a  man  and  shoots  at 
birds  or  at  a  sacred  bush  in  which  are  buffalo.  When  he 
shoots,  meteors  begin  to  fall  and  the  rains  begin.  This 
suggests  that  the  season  is  April. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  identification  of  the  bag  { =  sword), 
and  the  statement  that  one  side  is  paralysed,  correspond  so 
nearly  to  Orion  that  the  season  is  of  less  importance. 

When  meteors  fall,  a  spectator  must  say,  "  I  don't  see  you 
alone,  I  see  you  with  many  people,"  or  he  will  soon  die. 
Meteors  are,  however,  confused  with  hail,  which  is  mixed 
with  water  and  put  on  the  rice  seed. 

An  eclipse  is  called  Yankoba  (from  an  Arabic  word),  and 
they  say  that  the  sun  swallows  the  moon  :  "  Each  lias  its  own 
road  and  when  they  are  trying  to  get  to  their  places  for  the 
New  Year,  people  come  out  and  dance  "  ;  how  far  this  refers 
to  an  eclipse  is  not  clear. 

Another  account  says  the  moon  is  a  king  and  the  sun  a 
great  warrior  who  holds  the  moon.  When  the  moon  dies 
Kurumasaba  buries  it  in  the  sky. 

Another  informant  thought  that  something  like  a  cat 
caught  the  moon ;  they  beat  drums  to  drive  it  away.  This 
cat  was  identified  with  Yankoba  in  one  place. 

No  one  sleeps  during  an  eclipse ;  they  say,  "  Let  Yankoba 

n  2 


180 

leave  the  moon  alone  " ;  if  someone  sleeps  and  the  moon  is 
swallowed  altogether,  that  person  will  die.  Women  sing  Poro 
songs  and  men  sing  Bundu  songs  during  an  eclipse. 

A  halo  means  the  death  of  a  chief  (sun)  or  evil  in  the 
country  (moon). 

The  rainbow  comes  from  an  ant-hill,  in  which  is  a  krii'i ; 
no  one  should  point  at  it  or  he  will  become  "  red,"  i.e.  leprous. 
The  rainbow  is  put  up  by  the  krifi  to  keep  the  rain  from  his 
dwelling  place,  for  he  has  put  his  clothes  and  rice  out  to  dry. 
A  man  who  stands  on  such  an  ant-hill  becomes  mad  if  the 
rainbow  comes  out,  unless  he  has  "  four  eyes." 

Another  account  of  the  rainbow  says  that  it  is  Bai  Farama's 
bow. 

No  explanation  of  a  whirlwind  (konkofslfol)  is  given; 
but  no  one  would  dare  to  throw  stones  at  it ;  it  is  G  od's 
power. 

Susu. — Stone  axes  are  occasionally  found  and  are  known 
as  gal ainyi  berai  (lightning?).  A  small  wedge,  presented 
by  Alimami  Suri  of  Somaia,  was  dark  like  plumbago,  and 
somewhat  greasy,  with  well-marked  striations. 

Koranko. — A  stone  "  with  five  sides  "  is  said  to  be  picked 
up  where  lightning  strikes.  A  dog  comes  with  the  flash  and 
jumps  round  for  a  few  minutes  and  then  vanishes  ;  it  has  a 
quantity  of  hair. 


181 


NOTE  ON  THE  BOTANICAL  FEATURES  OF 
SIERRA   LEONE. 

By  Dr.   0.   Stapf. 

So  far  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  describe  systematically 
the  principal  features  of  the  vegetation  of  Sierra  Leone  or  to 
analyse  it  according  to  its  composition  and  relationship  with 
the  great  floral  regions  of  Tropical  Africa.  Some  rough  ideas 
may  be  gathered  from  Scott  Elliot's  Report  on  the  District 
traversed  by  the  Anglo-French  Boundary  Commission 
(Colonial  Reports,  Miscellaneous,  No.  3,  1893),  and  from 
Dr.  Chevalier's  observations  made  near  the  source  of  the 
Niger  and  close  to  the  Sierra  Leone  boundary.  A  great  deal  of 
information  could  also  be  obtained  from  a  study  of  the  volumes 
of  the  Flora  of  Tropical  Africa  and  the  ample  material  which 
since  their  publication  has  accumulated  at  Kew.  To  do  this 
is  however,  at  present,  out  of  the  question,  for  lack  of  time. 
On  the  other  hand,  much  of  this  additional  material  has  passed 
through  my  hands,  and  I  have  had  a  special  opportunity 
of  collecting  all  the  available  information  concerning  the 
Flora  of  Liberia,  whilst  Dr.  Chevalier's  admirable  work  has 
thrown  much  light  on  the  phytogeography  of  the  coterminous 
districts  of  Senegambia  and  French  Guinea.  I  may,  therefore, 
be  pardoned  for  the  present  attempt  of  sketching  in  the  most 
general  outlines  the  main  types  of  the  vegetation  of  the 
Colony  and  its  floral  affinities. 

Three  great  regional  belts  traverse  tropical  West  Africa 
from  east  to  west.  They  are  from  north  to  south :  (1)  the 
desert  belt  of  the  Sahara ;  (2)  the  steppe  belt  of  the  Sudan ;  and 
(3)  the  forest  belt  of  Upper  Guinea.  Sierra  Leone  lies 
entirely  outside  the  desert  belt  of  the  Sahara,  whilst  the 
forest  belt  of  Upper  Guinea  sweeps  across  the  south-eastern 


182 

frontier  districts  and  a  long,  broad  coastal  zone,  much  broken 
up  and  thinning  out  towards  the  lower  Scarcies,  and  the 
French  Kiviere  du  Sud  until  it  disappears  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Casamance.  All  the  country  on  the  land  side  of  the 
forest  belt  is  grasse  steppe  or  savannah,  greatly  varied  by  the 
presence  of  narrow  bands  of  river  woods,  open  park  land, 
bush  of  greater  or  lesser  density,  and  areas  under  cultivation. 
It  is  not  possible,  at  present,  to  indicate  even  roughly  the 
width  of  the  forest  belt  in  its  different  sections,  and  no  doubt 
the  boundary  line  between  it  and  the  steppe  belt  will  be  found 
to  be  extremely  irregular.  The  vegetation  of  the  forest  belt  is 
generally  compact  and  often  almost  impenetrable  evergreen 
rain  forest,  consisting  at  least  up  to  2,000  feet  of  tall  trees 
interlaced  with  creepers  ;  above  this  altitude,  which  is,  how- 
ever, not  often  exceeded,  the  tree  growth  becomes  stunted 
and  dwarfed.  The  rain  forest  is  often  interrupted  by 
swamp  areas  studded  with  young  oil  palms  and  clearings, 
overgrown  with  tall  grass  and  by  rice  and  millet  fields,  whilst 
along  the  coast  other  types  of  vegetation  take  its  place,  as  the 
well-known  mangrove  formation,  in  the  tidal  regions  of  the 
estuaries  of  the  rivers,  and  the  "  mangrove  orchards  "  of  the 
Bulom  shore ;  a  type  of  strand  bush  above  high-water  mark, 
where  the  coast  is  formed  by  a  low  shelf  of  land ;  and  the 
sand  beach  formation  of  creeping  grasses  and  halophilous 
herbs,  among  which  Ipomaea  pes  Gaprae  is  the  most 
striking  object.  The  evergreen  rain  forest  is  essentially 
hygrophilous  and  hydrophilous ;  that  is,  dependent  on  a 
voluminous  supply  of  water  by  streams,  or  a  high  degree  of 
atmospheric  moisture  and  an  excessive  rainfall  such  as  the 
coast  of  Sierra  Leone  possesses.  That  the  belt  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  area  is  so  much  broken  up  is  mainly  due 
to  the  persistent  clearing  of  large  tracts  for  purposes  of 
cultivation,  but  in  places  also  no  doubt  to  local  conditions. 

The  forest  belt  covers  probably  not  more  than  20  to  25  per 
cent,  of  the  area  of  the  Colony,  the  remainder  being  all  steppe 
with  the  variations  already  indicated.  This  steppe  up  to 
2,000  feet  is  characterised  by  the  predominance  of  coarse 


183 

grasses,  usually  up  to  8  feet,  but  occasionally  to  12  feet  and 
even  15  feet  in  height,  and  a  great  variety  of  herbs,  inter- 
spersed with  trees  or  patches  of  woods  of  a  more  or  less  open 
kind,  or  of  dense  bush  20  to  30  feet  high,  all  of  which  gives 
it  frequently  a  park-like  appearance.  In  some  of  the 
mountainous  districts  the  bush  may  assume  the  aspect  of  a 
low  forest  and  cover  large  areas.  But  the  tableland  of  the 
north-  east  between  2,000  and  3,000  feet,  is  generally  covered 
with  a  much  lower  (2  to  3  feet)  growth  of  grasses  and  herbs 
and  the  trees  are  so  much  scattered  as  to  produce  not  any 
longer  the  impression  of  park  scenery.  All  this  vegetation 
is  xerophilous  or  subxerophilous.  It  is  only  along  the  alluvia 
of  the  rivers  that  we  come  across  narrow  bands  of  hygrophilous 
woods,  in  reality  continuations  of  the  forest  belt.  Nowhere 
does  the  land  rise  high  enough  to  make  room  for  a  distinct 
highland  flora. 

Turning  to  the  composition  of  the  flora,  we  find  that  the 
evergreen  rain  forest  is,  in  Sierra  Leone,  essentially  the  same 
as  in  the  more  eastern  sections  of  Upper  Guinea,  only  slightly 
modified  by  the  accession  of  endemic  elements,  and  the  dis- 
appearance of  others.  The  same  also  applies  to  the  mangrove 
formation.  Similarly  the  steppe  flora  of  Sierra  Leone  in  its 
composition  continues  the  characters  of  the  steppes  of 
Southern  Senegambia  and  of  French  Guinea  with  a  moderate 
influx  of  peculiar  types.  Thus  in  neither  of  its  main 
constituents  can  the  flora  of  Sierra  Leone  claim  the  rank  of  a 
particularly  specialised  section  of  the  flora  of  West  Africa. 
To  what  extent  it  might  be  treated  as  a  subordinate  section 
is  still  an  open  question.  One  peculiarity  of  the  West 
African  flora,  the  presence  of  a  not  inconsiderable  American- 
African  element,  is,  as  might  be  expected,  also  manifest  in 
the  flora  of  Sierra  Leone. 

The  economic  wealth  of  the  indigenous  flora  of  Sierra  Leone 
is  no  doubt  considerable,  as  so  many  of  the  timber,  dye,  rubber, 
oil,  gum,  fibre  plants,  etc.,  of  West  Africa  extend  into  Sierra 
Leone.  A  list  of  the  economic  plants  of  the  Colony  compiled 
from  the  earlier  records  contained  in  Moloney's  "  Sketch  of 


184 

the  Forestry  of  West  Africa,"  and  in  Scott  Elliot's  "  Report  on 
the  Anglo-French  Boundary  Commission,"  and  revised  and 
amplified  from  the  collections  obtained  more  recently,  would, 
no  doubt,  give  us  a  clear  idea  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
plant  world  of  Sierra  Leone.  But  to  make  it  reliable  and 
complete  will  involve  a  general  census  of  the  flowering  plants 
of  the  Colony.  This  would  be  the  more  valuable,  as  it  could 
serve  as  a  basis  for  any  problem  arising  in  connection  with 
the  flora  of  the  country. 


185 


GLOSSARY. 

Bare — a  roofed  enclosure  for  meetings,  etc. 

Bern  pa — a  rite  resembling  satka  in  every  feature,  except 

that  the  name  of  Kurumasaba  is  not  mentioned. 
Betieli — the  same  as  yunkoli,  circumciser. 
Boromasar — ancestral  stones;  stones  which  represent  the 

ancestors. 
Bogboro — the  bag  in  which   the  emblems   of    a    chief  are 

kept. 
Bundu — woman's  initiation  society. 
Four-eyed — used  of  a  diviner,  or  other  person  who  can   see 

krifi,  ghosts,  etc. 
Kan d e — paramount  chief. 
Kaiita — (a)  the  house  in  which  the  kande  is  shut  up  during 

the  preliminary  ceremonies  ;  (b)  the  charms   for  closing 

the  farm  against  witches,  etc. 
K  a  p  a  r — sub-chief. 

Konte — small  gong  struck  with  a  ring. 
Krifi — ■((>)  demi-god  or  spirit ;  (b)  dead  man;   (e)  tutelar  of 

secret  society. 
Kur — family  in  the  restricted  sense. 
Mat' oi — mashed  leaves  used  for  purificatory  ceremonies. 
Masam — "  forbidden  "  ;  a  ritual  prohibition. 
Mori  man — a  Mohammedan. 
Orok — grandson;  the  sister's  son  of  a  paramount  chief  who 

acts  as  regent  after  his  decease. 
Poro — man's  secret  society. 

Prayer  board — wood  inscribed  with  Arabic  prayers. 
Rabenle — man's  secret,  society,   corresponding,  in  part,   to 

Por< ». 
Rokian,  rokina — the  same  as  boromasar. 
Eokrifi — the  place  of  the  dead. 

N  3 


186 

Satka — usually  translated  "  sacrifice,"  but  more   accurately 

•'  blessing." 
Sema — circumcised  person. 

8  in  a,  si  a  n — "  medicine  "  for  catching  witches,  tbieves,  etc. 
Soko — a  member  of  the  Poro  Society. 
Turuma — the  meeting  place  of  the  Eabenle. 
Wanka — charm  or  magical  implement  against  tbieves. 
Y  u  n  k  o  1  i — circumciser. 


1ST 


SECOND     GLOSSARY     OF     BOTANICAL 

NAMES. 

abari,  ?  Cyrtosperma  sp. 

afil,  lScleria  Barteri,  Boeck  ;  *Desmodium  laswcarpum,  DC. 

akam,  Bixa  orellana,  Linn. 

akimban  (5778),  Platystoma  africanum,  Beauv. 

akon,  Agelaea  villosa,  Planch. 

ankonta  (1  77). 

ankonkorot,  Cassia  Sieberiana,  DC. 

boluutai,  Akhornea  cordifolia,  Mull.  Arg. 

qbamp  (2538). 

^bgpr  (60). 

^buiik,  LHoscorea  sativa,  Linn. 

gbusuk,  Clerodendron  scandens,  Beauv. 

tjbeli,  Phyllanthus  florifound/us,  Mull.  Arg. 

ekant  (248),  Anisophyllea  laurina,  Don. 

^kati  (3612),  Combretum  grandijlorwn,  Don. 

qlabo,  Sapindaceae  sp. 

$tep  (1544). 

Qnana  (?  109),  Ficus  eocasperata,  Vdhl. 

^purpur,     lDalbergia     sp.  :      zCardiospermum     BJalicacabum, 

Linn. 
Qpilpila  (6968). 
gronko  (44). 

etanke,  Sorindeia  juglandifolia,  Planch. 
Qtol(1467). 

Qtoma,  Dioscun  c  prehensilis,  Ben  fit. 
etet,  Thalia  genieulata,  Linn. 
fjtitij  lMdesobotrya  sparsijlora,  ffutchiiison  ;  ^Heisteria  parvi- 

folia,  Sm. 
fori,  Craterispermum  taurine m,  Benth. 


188 

kabe,te  (5929). 

kalmiitila  (904). 

kafeka,  corkwood. 

kakump,  Dracaena  Perrotteti,  Baiter. 

kalop  (1544). 

kalolum,  Selaginella  Vogelii,  Spring. 

katap,  Palisota  thyrsiflora,  Benth. 

katop  (256). 

kakant,  Oldenlandia  macrophylla,  DC. 

knmban,  ?  Usteria  guineensis,  Don. 

mabele  (56]  ).  Goffea  jasminoides,  Welw. 

Qiakunt  (6593). 

mayente,  Sesamum  indicum. 

niiiita,  Hugonia  Planchoni,  Hk.f. 

peni,  DigUaria  longifiora,  Pers. 

ratorik  (?  606),  Gominelina  nudifiora,  Linn. 

tabese  (1142). 

tasur(1846). 

tobqyo,  Sorghum  halepeme,  Pers.,  var. 

In  a  certain  number  of  cases  the  names  have  not  yet  been 
determined ;  the  numbers  in  brackets  are  those  of  the 
corresponding  specimens  at  Kew. 

Where  two  names  are  given,  specimens  of  both  were 
collected  under  one  name,  and  it  has  not  been  possible  to 
discriminate.  ' 

Many  names  given  in  the  Eeport  are  unidentified  owing  to 
the  specimens  having  been  collected  under  other  names. 


189 


INDEX. 

abe,mpa,  32,  34,  39,  41  sq.,  67  sq.,  174. 

Adonis,  gardens  of,  30. 

adoption,  159,  165. 

adultery,  75,  97,  101, 102. 

akonto,  46. 

animism.  66,  71,  74,  93,  128. 

see  also  krifi,  dead. 
Ankoi,  152. 
anthill,  55,  150,  180. 
Aronso,  34. 
astronomy,  179. 
asur,  78,  80. 
ate,t  tot,  36. 
Atobankere,  31. 

automatic  action  of  wanka,  66,  67. 
automatisms,  83  sq. 
avoidance,  74. 

"  bad  dead.."  43. 

Bai  Farama,  25. 

banana,  shooting  at,  58,  149. 

beating  a  god,  33. 

birth,  28,  76,  79,  108  sq. 

blacksmith,  77,  81,  150. 

blood,  57,  157. 

blood  money,  154. 

body  marks,  111. 

boro  masar,  41. 

botany,  5, 181. 

bride-price,  95,  97,  98,  100,  101. 


190 

bridge,  12. 

Bubm,  7,  10,  103  sq.,  144,  152. 

bullroarer,  150. 

Bundu,  13,  28,  76,  95,  101,  122,  151,  152. 

burial,  39,  49,  51,  77,  78,  118  sq.,  146. 

see  also  grave, 
bush  krifi,  32. 

character,  6,  174. 

chief,  paramount,  25  sq.,  70,  121,  129,  143,  146,  153,  167. 

child,  burial  of,  124,  129. 

children,  procuring,  36. 

circumcision,  50,  76,  114  sq. 

clan,  25,  132  sq. 

see  also  totem, 
classificatory  system,  103  sq. 
clitoridectomy,  13. 

colour,  importance  of,  58,  126,  129,  130. 
communal  property,  168. 
continence,  77. 
cotton  tree,  38,  41. 
crops,  172. 

cross  cousins,  75,  91,  101. 
crystal-gazing,  84. 
curse,  46  sq.,  68,  72  sq.,  80  sq. 

dead,  cult  of,  30,  31,  33,  41  sq.,  120  sq. 

debt,  169. 

disease  and  burial,  125. 

divination,  32,  49  sq.,  80  sq.,  110. 

divorce,  93  sq.,  99. 

dog  sacrifice,  147. 

doll,  114. 

dowry,  98. 

dream,  32,  40,  86  sq.,  149. 

drought,  customs  in,  30,  40. 


191 

eclipse,  179. 
embalming,  125. 
ethnography,  12. 
exogamy,  91,  135. 

family  (aknr),  155,  156. 

fan,  53  sq.,  88. 

Fahge,  149. 

farming,  172. 

father's  brother,  105,  106. 

father's  brother's  wife,  105,  106. 

father's  sister's  husband,  106. 

father's  sister,  105. 

fecundity,  14  sq. 

fetish,  33. 

fire,  147,  149. 

fire  clan,  136. 

fishing  rights,  98,  178. 

fosterage,  110. 

"four  eyes,"  35,  39,  51,  111. 

freeing  slave,  159. 

future  life,  43;  44,  125. 

ghost,  40,  44,  51. 

go-between  in  marriage  customs,  94. 
god,  name  of,  39. 
see  also  kuru. 
gong,  12. 

grave,  41  sq.,  71,  119^.,  129,  151. 
guardian,  163. 

hair  of  child,  110,  111. 
hammock,  12. 
holiness,  see  mas  am. 
homicide,  156. 
house,  shape  of,  12. 
house,  stone,  12. 


192 

impotence,  100. 
incest,  32,  74. 
inheritance,  99,  161. 
interest,  171. 

iron,  51,  71. 

joint  ownership,  163. 
judicial  procedure,  153. 

kanta,  46,  60,  62,  67  sq. 

kaloko,  150. 

Katokodo,  149. 

kinki,  152. 

kinship,  72,  102  sq. 

Kisi,  10, 11. 

Kofo,  87,  149. 

Koranko,  12,  26,  39,  67,  103  sq.,  130, 139,  141,  152, 168, 180. 

krifi,  31  sq.,  47,  62,  71,  85  sq.,  150 sq.,  175. 

Krim,  10. 

Kumba,  30. 

Kumpa  matir,  36,  150. 

k  umunko,  150. 

kunte,  25. 

kure,  152. 

kuru,  29,  31,  60. 

lamentation,  119. 

land,  165  sq. 

languages,  7  sq. 

law,  153  sq. 

leechcraft,  115. 

leopard,  37. 

Limba,  9,  11,  12,  26,  39,  50,  59,  78,  86,  101,  103  tq.,  112, 

117,  130,  139,  149,  152,  157,  169. 
loan,  165  sq.,  169. 
loan  to  husband,  99. 


193 

Loko,  9,  26,  30,  39,  59,  67,  78,  101,  103  sq.,  129,  141,  152, 

165. 
lustration,  126. 
see  also  mat'oi. 

mafgi,  76,  81,  82,  114,  148. 

malformation,  32. 

Mandingo,  7,  11. 

manual  rite,  53,  56. 

marriage,  91  sq.,  160. 

Masare,  179. 

masom,  27,  37,  57,  60,   69  sq.,  98,  108,  113,    115,   132  sq. 

141,  148. 
mask,  28,  116,  147. 
matrilineal  descent,  25,  92,  152,  164. 
matrilocal  marriage,  107,  108. 
medicine,  46  sq.,  82  sq. 
Mendi,  103  sq.,  111. 
mica,  36. 

mimetic  rites,  53  sq. 

Mohammedan  customs,  29,  42,  43,  109,  110,  121, 128. 
morality,  74. 

mother's  brother's  wife,  105,  106. 
mother's  sister,  105. 
murder,  154,  161. 

name  tabu,  115,  125. 
naming  child,  110. 

old  age,  6. 
omen,  71,  86  sq. 
oral  rite,  54  sq. 
ordeal,  47  sq.,  81  sq. 
orientation  of  grave,  129. 

palm  oil,  176. 
palm  wine,  175. 


194 

parents,  sacrifice  to,  42. 
parents-in-law,  69. 

see  also  kinship. 
parrot,  word  for,  8. 
pawning,  166  sq. 

physical  features,  5. 
piacular  sacrifice,  69. 
Poro,  143,  169. 
pottery,  177. 
prayer,  see  oral  rite, 
property,  woman's,  93  sq.,  163. 

Kabenle,  36,  74,  78,  143,  146  sq.,  169. 

rainbow,  180. 

Bamena,  151. 

Baruba,  151. 

regent,  27. 

religion,  29  sq. 

renunciation,  55. 

rice-bin,  12. 

rice  customs,  30,  36,  39,  75,  77,  174. 

ritual  prohibitions,  27,  57,  69  sq.,  77. 

sacrifice,  120  sq. 

see  satka,  abqmpa. 
Sanda  Timne,  13. 
Sanko,  28. 
sasa,  80  sq. 

satka,  29,  37,  50,  52  sq.,  87,  109,  120,  127,  128,  160. 174. 
satka  and  wanka,  57. 
sena,  80. 
sex  ratio,  14  sq. 
sexual  relations,  72,  76. 
side  chamber  grave,  130. 
sister's  son,  105,  126. 
slavery,  158  sq. 
sling,  12. 


195 

sneezing,  43. 

society,  secret,  34,  77,  143  sq. 

see  also  Bimdu. 
somatology,  6. 

son-in-law,  duties  of,  98,  108, 119  sq. 
spell,  46,  50,  59. 
stone  houses,  12. 
stone  images,  39. 

stone  in  cult,  34,  140,  41  sq.,  50,  150. 
stone  implements,  180. 
stranger,  43,  166,  170. 
Susu,  38,  50,  58,  100,  103  sq.,  Ill,  129,  157,161,   165,   171, 

180. 
sympathetic  rites,  52  sq. 

tabu,  62,  67,  77. 

see  also  wanka. 
tambara  antQf,  34. 
tana,  106,  142. 
theft,  69,  156. 
Timne  migrations,  9. 
tooth  customs,  111. 
totem,  38,  61,  63,  132  sq. 
traders,  6,  163. 
transference,  55,  57. 
transformation,  50. 
trap,  33,  38,  179. 
trees,  166  sq. 
Tubanga,  30. 
tutelary  spirit,  149. 

see  also  krifi. 
twins,  17,  39,  88,  111,  112,  130,  165. 

Vai,  103  sq. 
vegetation  god,  30,  40. 
victim,  colour  of,  58. 

victim,  sanctity  of,  56,  69. 


196 

village,  typical,  22. 
virgin  money,  96,  97. 

wali,  40. 

wanka,  57,  60  sq.,  137. 

wastrel,  156,  163,  167. 

widow,  75,  92,  125,  127  sq. 

witch,  36,  39,  40,  46  sq.,  50,  58,  78,  130,  175. 

woman's  property,  93. 

xylophone,  12. 

Yalunka,  67,  103  sq.,  140. 
Yarg,  35. 
Yehenama,  44. 

zoology,  5, 


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